Random musings about rabies

I suffer from this fear off and on. It's pretty acute right now actually, but I'm working through it. I had these memories I wanted to share though.

My husband loves bats. When they come out at night he likes to head out onto the porch to watch them. He points them out to the kids when we see them in campsites, on roadtrips. And I have to admit, when my fear is less acute, the whole bat spectacle is pretty cool.
Anyway, once he was taking out the trash after dark at our home, where we see bats frequently. He felt a bat skim the top of his ball head. No doubt about it.

That's it. That's the story. He did not panic. He did not google incessantly. He did not seek reassurance. He did not go for a rabies shot. He didn't even tell me about it until months later because...get this y'all...it slipped his mind. He did not get rabies. He is alive and well and he still goes outside to watch the bats. The end.

Okay, another story. Before my bat fear (I was having heart fears at the time) a bat flew in through my living room window one night. Found it hanging from the limestone fireplace. All the kids were home. The windows had been open a while so I had no idea how long it had been in the house. I briefly googled to see if I could handle it in my quest to free it. Google said no. Okay. I felt bad for it. I shooed it out the door with a broom. I had the kids watch from another room. I didn't think about that bat again for a loooooong time.

Last story. We were on a road trip in California once, several years ago. Petaluma I believe. There was an obviously sick bat flopping dramatically around on the pavement. I remembered my google search from years before. Bats on the ground in the daytime are bound to be sick, possibly with rabies. I had the kids give it a wide berth. Then we went for lunch. No other thoughts were had. No aactions were taken. My brain just...didn't pick rabies to fixate on that day.

Weird huh? The fears only seem real when we validate them. When we google and seek reassurance, when we check repeatedy. We all have the option right now to choose to believe the more rational version on whatever tale we've told ourselves. It's hard, I know. But try not to feed the monster. And if it helps any, know I am here in Texas trying my best not to feed mine.