I’m starting to recognize more and more phobias the older I get. I can add batophobia to my list. First off, how did they come up with that word for fear of heights? What if you’re afraid of bats?
Anyway, on our trip home from Arkansas way back when, we made little pit stops here and there. These, coupled with driving only on back roads, added 4 extra hours to our overall day. But I like those days. The unplanned ones. One of the things we did was climb a very tall, very thin, very swaying look-out tower. I was nauseous immediately, but would not sit in the car while the boys had their fun. (p.s. you can click on the photos to enlarge them)
I was the smart one and made everyone else go first..in case a landing wasn’t stable. But now that I look at the photo, what if N slipped and tumbled back? Wouldn’t it be me that suffered the most?
By the 5th landing we were suffering from lack of exercise and high altitude causing N to become paranoid that everyone who carved their name into the wood landings have also been secretly loosening the bolts one by one, until some unsuspecting soul [us] came along.
Once at the top, there really was quite a beautiful view. And for a girl who is afraid that the world is being taken over by strip malls and subdivisions, seeing so many trees in one place put my heart at ease. R always laughs at my inevitable exhale when passing such areas and calls me a “city girl” for not knowing how much land there really is in America.
R decided to take it upon himself to show how un-batophobic he was by climbing above the open stairwell. He soon became ligyrophobic after I got done yelling at him, though.
The way down may have been harder than the way up. I’ve never clung to railings so hard in my life.
One of our favorite moments on the tower was listening to N sing songs about Jesus growing out of his ear. You can just barely make out a 70 foot statue of Jesus in the middle of the woods. Good times.
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[…] when I went on a tour of R’s family homestead, which you can read about that here and when we climbed up on the tower which you can read here. On the way to Gilbert, Arkansas, I rolled down the window, stared at the countryside and just […]