Phobia

So, I have a phobia.  Just one.  Really.

I'm afraid of heights.  I can't climb a ladder without my palms sweating.  I can just BARELY drive across the 91-215 overpass with my eyes open.  I don't do edges/cliffs, walking bridges or step stools very well.  And just ask Dustin about the time we rode the re-entry ride at Lagoon (it's a tall tower that you sit around facing out, it suspends you from the top for 6-7 seconds and then plummets you back down to earth, thought we were going to DIE, and he may still have my fingernail imprints in his thigh).
I first realized this when I was 10 years old and I was asked to help another girl put up some posters in the school hallway.  I willingly climbed up the ladder and was ready to go.  Until I looked down.  That was the end of that.
A few weeks ago I was on my way out of town when I noticed in the sky hot air balloons.  Four of them actually.  They were beautiful in the morning light.  Until I realized just how high up they were, and how there were actually people in them, and they could look down.  OH NO, my heart started racing, my palms started to sweat, it was like I was there, up there!  (I'm actually freaking out a little just remembering).  As I continued driving I tried to avoid looking at them, just knowing they were there was too much!  Wow, I thought, this is crazy irrational for me to be feeling this way, down HERE, on the ground, safe.
So I ask you, is this normal?  Do arachnophobes freak out at pictures of spiders?  Do claustrophobes start to hyperventilate at the thought of a crowded elevator?
I love to tease my sister about spiders, her reactions are SO funny.  Well, they are to me anyway.  Spiders seem like such a silly thing to be scared of, they're teeny tiny bugs that you can squish in an instant.  Using that logic, am I really going to fall off the 91 overpass?  Probably not.  The ladder, well I am clumsy and tend to fall when safely on the ground.  I also love to climb, trees, rocks, naturey things.  Why is that different?

I don't understand this fear, I just know that it is a part of me that I don't like very much.  One day I'd like to be able to enjoy the sight of those hot air balloons in the early morning light.  One day.


PS  I also LOVE LOVE LOVE roller coasters, but that's different somehow. . .