I have a wierd phobia of

wet grass touching my feet. Its ok for my feet to get wet. Or dirty. Or muddy. Or sandy. But I hate the feeling of all those little wet blades of grass tickling and itching my feet and depositing little droplets of water on my feet. I go to great lengths to avoid walking on wet grass. If there is a short cut across wet grass and I have sandals on (which is most of the time in Hawaii), I would rather take the time to walk on the pathway instead of the short cut.

A little disclaimer: I am not a psycho, I can make myself walk on wet grass, it is just something I would rather avoid. Much like people visiting their in-laws, going to the dentist, going to the DMV. You can make yourself do these things, you'd just rather not. I don't have OCD or some debilitating fear of wet grass. Although I hear all the time that dogs often have a fear of their paws touching wet grass. So I am in good company. Me and man's best friend.

So last night, Pocahontas wanted to sit on some benches in the middle of a big patch of grass. One step onto the grass was all it took for me to take a flying leap back onto the safety of the dry concrete and announce

"The grass is wet!"

Pocahontas gave me a piggy back ride over to the benches and life was good. We sat there, chatted, saw friends, got serenaded with a private guitar concert, listened to The Script and watched the manly man of the basketball team put on my pink Juicy sweatshirt because he was cold.

It was all fun and games until it was time to leave the benches. Luckily, MM came to the rescue. I graciously accepted his offer for a piggyback ride across the itchy wet grass. I hopped on and he started walking. The problem came when he stopped in the middle of the grass and said

"Hey do you want a shoulder ride?"

"Umm no thanks. Just take me over to the sidewalk please"

"No. I think you want a shoulder ride. C'mon it will be fun."

Although I don't normally give in to peer pressure (thanks to D.A.R.E) this time I had to. It was either get on MM's shoulders or get left in the middle of the wet grass. I didn't have long to think about these options because by this time, MM was already hoisting me up onto his shoulders. What had started as an innocent piggy back ride took an unexpected twist.It was terrifying. But I won't lie, it was a little fun.

And such are the measures I have to take to keep my feet from touching wet grass. Even if it's in the form of terrifying shoulder rides.