Writer's Block: Phobias
I have a pretty good fear of heights, but that's nothing particularly remarkable - many people do. What REALLY creeps me out and is pretty unique (so far as I know) is a combination of water-pipes and shadows. Now, I'm not afraid of the small, standard water pipes that everyone has in their home. In fact, small pipelines and valves and such like that fascinate me. What starts to get me are the huge pipes, the great big mains. Now, throw in some darkness: Shadows, or outright dark, and I really start getting nervous.
About the worst thing for me in this regard is a well-pit. They tend to be small, poorly-lit, often with the water pressure-tank and pump, and in a worst-case scenario, the well shaft itself. Not an open hole, but the metal casing around the well. If there's sufficient light, it's not so bad, but it still gives me an uneasy feeling.
The problem that this creates for me, is that there's just such a well-pit on the farm. The old well is exactly as I have described above. You have open a trap door in the well-house, and descend a vertical ladder to get into the pit where the pressure-tank and control valves are. As of this moment, there's no light down there - presumably the bulb has burned out. I don't want to go down there, I really don't, but I have to. There's some broken water lines in there that I have to fix if I want to restore water to the yard-hydrants, and that's a must-do item. I have purchased a fluorescent light fixture that's designed for such an environment, and that will provide sufficient light, but first I have to go down in there to install it. The very idea is making me break out in goose-flesh as I type this.
WHY do they always build these things in this way? Why not install proper lighting in the first place? At best, there's usually a single, dim, dingy bulb hanging from the ceiling.
I think this all stems from an early childhood warning. Back in my grandmother's house, there was a cistern off in one corner of the earthern basement. It was in a dark corner, and you could barely make out the shape of the tank and pump. "Stay away from there," my mother warned, "it's a dangerous place!" I was young, and impressionable, and while I definitely stayed away from that area, the fear of it has plagued me well into my adult life. It's something that I'm working hard on getting over, because I have to, but it's not easy.
About the worst thing for me in this regard is a well-pit. They tend to be small, poorly-lit, often with the water pressure-tank and pump, and in a worst-case scenario, the well shaft itself. Not an open hole, but the metal casing around the well. If there's sufficient light, it's not so bad, but it still gives me an uneasy feeling.
The problem that this creates for me, is that there's just such a well-pit on the farm. The old well is exactly as I have described above. You have open a trap door in the well-house, and descend a vertical ladder to get into the pit where the pressure-tank and control valves are. As of this moment, there's no light down there - presumably the bulb has burned out. I don't want to go down there, I really don't, but I have to. There's some broken water lines in there that I have to fix if I want to restore water to the yard-hydrants, and that's a must-do item. I have purchased a fluorescent light fixture that's designed for such an environment, and that will provide sufficient light, but first I have to go down in there to install it. The very idea is making me break out in goose-flesh as I type this.
WHY do they always build these things in this way? Why not install proper lighting in the first place? At best, there's usually a single, dim, dingy bulb hanging from the ceiling.
I think this all stems from an early childhood warning. Back in my grandmother's house, there was a cistern off in one corner of the earthern basement. It was in a dark corner, and you could barely make out the shape of the tank and pump. "Stay away from there," my mother warned, "it's a dangerous place!" I was young, and impressionable, and while I definitely stayed away from that area, the fear of it has plagued me well into my adult life. It's something that I'm working hard on getting over, because I have to, but it's not easy.