Round Robin Challenge: The Biggest Scare of All

No guard rail and a long way down: Sentinel Peak (A Mountain).

I initially had nothing in particular in mind for the Round Robin Challenge: Scary, beyond a vague idea of trying to show the real and imagined dangers of what I consider the scariest drive in Tucson: the drive up A Mountain, a.k.a. Sentinel Peak. It wasn't until today that I realized what my experiences on that road have in common with the pretend scares of Halloween and my actual terror on the Tower of Terror attraction at Disney's California Adventure. Ultimately, these scares and others are rooted in the scariest scare of all: the primal fear of death.

A burial today at East Lawn Palms cemetery.

What's interesting to me about the fear of death isn't the evolutionary usefulness of it or the ultimate inescapability of this thing we fear, but the elaborate ways we've developed to deal with that fear. The religious among us, for example, cling to the escape clause provided by our particular faith, such as the promise of resurrection or the cycle of reincarnation on the way to Nirvana. Or do I have that last bit wrong? I'm not criticizing this, by the way. We have our reasons. But beyond that, we speculate on what Heaven is like and exactly when and how we get there, and we develop rituals for how the body is disposed of, and we do afterwards to honor the people we've lost and smooth their way into the next world.

Styrofoam gravestones and a fake ghost. Click the link below for more photos about deathly scares! From Round Robin Photo Challenges

Halloween, beyond the party aspect, the fun of pretending to be someone else and the guilty pleasure of eating too much candy, is all about taming the fear of death. We set up tombstones made of Styrofoam, which unlike the real thing can be removed then the celebration is over. We take away the fear of ghostly spirits by depicting ghosts as nothing more than bedsheets with eye holes. We dress up as vampires and wicked witches and fantasy killers such Freddie or Jason, knowing those characters can be safely put in a box in the closet afterward, and everyone will still be alive.

Tucsonans dine with Dia de los Muertos skeletons at El Charro Restaurant.

Here in Tucson, there is a growing annual celebration of the Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Taking its inspiration from the centuries-old Day of the Dead observances in Mexico, Tucson's All Souls Procession and related events (art shows, concerts etc.) is described in the Phoenix New Times as "a creative and chaotic cornucopia that's equal parts Burning Man, Halloween, and Mardi Gras all rolled into one." The main event is the All Souls Procession, with people in costumes, often carrying icons of deceased relatives, and sometimes even wearing a mask with the loved one's face. I have never made it down to see this, but I'd like to.

An All Souls altar at St. Michael's, containing traditional Dia de Los Muertos icons.

I read somewhere that one purpose of the original Day of the Dead, besides honoring, remembering and praying for the deceased loved ones, is to mock Death itself, not the actual dead people but the idea of death, which is unable to prevent new life beyond this world. Or something. Sounds about right to me, anyway. Day of the Dead decor is full of colorful and generally humorous-looking skulls and skeletons, which can be similar to Danse Macabre imagery in that the skeletons are depicted as being out and about, participating in human activities rather than lying decently in the ground. Children eat candy skulls, and families laugh about that time that Tia Madeleine, before she died, had that funny incident with the family dog (or whatever). Some celebrations are solemn, but many of them are joyful. It's a chance to take our fear of death and laugh at it, and say, "You don't scare me!"

A scary advertisement is all over town.

Of course some of fears associated with death have nothing to do with skeletons or fantasy monsters or an afterlife, and very little to do with a fear of the unknown. Ads like the one above are at bus stops all over Tucson right now. I assume that what Doug McClure (probably not the 1970s tv star) is selling is life insurance, so that at least if you die your family can pay for the funeral, and maybe be a bit less destitute afterward. When I parked to take this photo, two soon-to-be bus passengers offered their take on the subject of death. "We all have to go sometime," an older man said with a shrug. A guy in his thirties had a very different take. He told me that his friend was "dying very slowly," suffering a series of painful conditions that twist his body and subject him to pain. He's had surgeries, and one recent one almost killed him from the anesthesia. The friend told me that the man's stomach was pushed off to the right side of his abdomen and needed surgery, but now the friend was afraid to get it in case he died. Even in those extreme circumstances, the fear of death was a real factor in the man's decision-making.

And on that downer note, let me end this and pass you on to the scary photos of the other Robins!

Linking List
as of Saturday, November 5th
1:35 AM MST

Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

May - Posted!
May Rodrigo
http://www.mayrodrigo.com

Please note: I am helping out at a conference at church in the morning and early afternoon, so I won't be near a computer to update the linking lists or comment on entries. I'll catch up with all this when I get home later in the day. In the meantime, try to have fun without me!

Karen

Weekend Assignment #241: Talk of the Town

I had my flag flying this Election Day.

Weekend Assignment #241: It's not uncommon to overhear snippets of strangers' conversations in grocery stores, restaurants, at the gym, at the park and in other places people gather. We may even have conversations with strangers ourselves, especially when sharing in some common experience. Tell us what you've been hearing - or, if you prefer, some interesting bit of eavesdropping you recall from some time ago.

Extra Credit: Do you ever eavesdrop on purpose?

I have to say, the last time I heard so much animated political discussion as I've encountered recently was in 1974 at the height of Watergate. The last two days I've witnessed expressions of great joy, and a few of fear and resentment. My favorite recent snippet:

Woman at dog park: "...said, 'I just told you I'm pregnant, and you keep going on about Obama. If you could just...'"

People at the dog park have a lot to say. The dogs, not so much.

Wearing my two Obama shirts for most of the past week, I've had a number of comments addressed to me directly. A woman in her sixties at the dog park saw my shirt and said "Right on!" A professor showed me electoral maps from past elections in a newspaper he was reading, and told me that the only state that went Democratic in all of the last seven elections was Minnesota. A Safeway customer ahead of me in line claimed that he had met Barack Obama several times, because his dad knew Obama "quite well." Even after I switched to a Doctor Who shirt, the kid at the Safeway deli asked who I voted for, and was pleased with my answer.

They got me!

And today I wore my Obama shirt and a few of my buttons to the doctor's office. The visit is precautionary; I'm having a symptom that almost certainly means my hormones are temporarily out of whack from stress, but could, in a worst case scenario, mean something more serious. I had a good time getting painfully poked in my arm and on the backs of both hands by two medical assistants trying to get a vial of blood out of me. They eventually succeeded, and I'll have the result next week. I don't know what I'll do if it doesn't show that everything is fine. With no health insurance, I can't afford to get a biopsy if it proves necessary, and I sure as heck can't afford to be diagnosed with a preexisting condition, and therefore not be able to get insurance when I'm employed again. Still, my doctor is fairly sure it won't come to that.

Anyway, a woman in the waiting room, approximately age 60-something, was there with a man age 80-something. She was pleased with my shirt, and came over to read my buttons. We chatted happily about the election, and she expressed her annoyance at the passage of Prop 102 (the anti-gay marriage amendment). She said that attitudes are sure to change as more people get to know individual gays in their community and discover that they're "just people." (Ironically, as I was typing that last sentence, someone on tv was saying the same thing.)

Even as I waited alone in the exam room, I heard more chatter than usual through the walls, including, from the next room,

"...Robert Kennedy Junior...."

Another overheard snippet is an oldie but goodie, dating back to Clarion '77, the writer's workshop where I met John. We were in the dining hall when one of the non-Clarionites at a nearby table was heard asking,

"New football come in yet?"

Maybe you had to be there. But for us, it was emblematic of the contrast between the Clarionites, who were of course all intellectually engaged, funny and all-around great people, and the other students, whom we classed with a football player once described by Thurber: "...while he was not dumber than an ox, he was not any smarter." Yes, we were that arrogant.

On the extra credit, I do sometimes listen in on purpose if people are being reasonably loud in a public place. I kind of consider eavesdropping a skill that fiction writers do well to develop, because it helps with dialogue and characterization. But I confess I'm often oblivious to conversations that John is monitoring at a restaurant (back when we could afford restaurants).

Your turn! Tell us of something funny or interesting you've heard from the mouths of strangers, whether it was recently or long ago. Write it up in your blog along with a link back here, and leave a link to your entry in the comments below. I'll be back in a week with a roundup of your responses. Speaking of which:

For Weekend Assignment #240: Ooh, Scary! I asked whether you've ever been genuinely scared in a spooky or fun-scary situation. I gather that like me, most folks have been too caught up in the chills and thrills of Election Day to pay much attention to anything else this week. Our stalwart Mike is the only one who favored us with his remembrance of scares past. Click the link for the full post:

Mike said...

Now, I was scared of the dark as a kid. I remember when my mom used to make me get something out of the basement I would run as fast as I could. I didn't want anything to catch me. I think that is how I became a good runner later in track. Running from monsters everyday gets you into good shape.

That's it for tonight! I hope you'll take the time to participlate this week, as things start to get back to normal. If you don't normally listen in on strangers' conversations, I hope you'll do it this week--discreetly, of course. Write about it in your blog or journal, and include a link back here. Then leave a link to your entry in the comments below. I'll be back in a week to highlight the results.

Karen

Weekend Assignment #240: Ooh, Scary!

Let's start with the new topic, and then double back for a round up of last week's entries:

Weekend Assignment #240: Halloween is largely about fear, defanged and turned into fun. Have you ever been genuinely scared in a spooky or fun-scary situation?

Extra Credit: Do you still dress up for Halloween?

When I was about three years old, I had a recurring dream about a skeleton-monster invading my darkened bedroom. Other than that, the only fear I recall in this category has to do with three rides - roller coasters and such.

In 1976 my mom and I visited Walt Disney World for the first time. It was fairly new then; Epcot didn't even exist yet, and there was still such a thing as an E ticket. When we got to Space Mountain, we read the warning (don't ride if you have back problems, heart problems, etc.) and opted to view a walk-through exhibit inside the mountain and skip the ride itself.

Tomorrowland reopening, Disneyland 1998.

Years later, possibly as late as 1986, John and I went on the ride together. The cars were toboggan-style back then, and I was squished into it on top of John. Worse, I wasn't really quite in the car, and not well strapped in with the old-fashioned airplane-style seat belt. To be plunged into a fast, jostly ride in pitch darkness when you're sure you're not properly secured is a genuinely scary thing. I didn't try to ride Space Mountain again at either park for a good five years after that. When I did, it was in a better designed car, and I had a blast. It's one of my favorite Disneyland attractions now.

Now, that's a scary place!

The other scary attractions that I've made myself go on are Splash Mountain (which still scares me, every time), the Maliboomer at Californai Adventure (which becomes more exhilerating and less scary with repetition), and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. That last one really is too much for me. The building facade is great, the pre-ride is wonderful, and the actual elevator drop part is truly terrifying, even though in principle it's very similar to the Maliboomer. I'm not at all sure I'll ever be able to make myself give the Tower of Terror a second try.

Oh, and the extra credit? What do you think?

Your turn! Tell us of a fake scare that was genuinely frightening for you, at least a little bit. Write it up in your blog along with a link back here, and leave a link to your entry in the comments below. I'll be back in a week with a roundup of your responses. Like this:

For Weekend Assignment #239: Message to the World, I asked you to imagine what you would tell the world if everyone gave you their attention for two minutes. Here are samples from your words of wisdom:


Julie said...

Easy: Deal with it. (Yes, there's more.)

Tall Paul said...

Be more tolerant. What does it matter to you what someone else's lifestyle is? If you're not like them, fine. Don't be like them. You do not want someone forcing you to be/think/believe like them, so don't force them to be/think/believe like you. I can't stand eating oysters (who first cracked one open, looked at the phlemy goo inside, and slurped it down?), that doesn't mean nobody should eat oysters because I think it is gross or unnatural. Why be so arrogant as to believe that you're right about everything? (Hint: You're NOT!)

Florinda said...

No one can place limits on your right to BE WHO YOU ARE. However, your right to EXPRESS that can indeed be limited - and when it starts to infringe on anyone else's right to do the same, it SHOULD be limited. To put it another way, no one can tell you what to feel or how to think, but they certainly can you tell how to BEHAVE, since unless you spend your life as a hermit, your behavior will impact everyone you come across.

Barbara said in comments...

I certainly hope that people chose who to vote for based on issues and not the email/tv garbage that goes on. I find it offensive that anyone would think if you don't vote for Obamba it was for the reasons you mentioned.
Barbara

Mike said in comments...

I've run out of time to write my post. I was going to say: Can we stop with the guns? It seems every argument leads to someone getting shot lately. Is it really worth shooting someone because they bumped into you? That really happened in Chicago a short time ago. Actually, the guy missed his target and killed an innocent girl. It's out of hand and stupid.

That's all for now. I'm getting mad all over again..

That's it for now, and it's Halloween morning. As you set up your fun chills and thrills for tonight, think of a time when you were small enough to take ghosts and monsters seriously, or you dared yourself to do something mildly dangerous, or some other fun scare was a little bit of a real scare. Write about it in your blog or journal, and include a link back here. Then leave a link to your entry in the comments below. I'll be back in a week to highlight the frights!

Karen