Two days ago, as I was leaving work, I fell down.
As a child, one falls a lot. No big deal. Adult falls, however, have consequences.
As an adult, I have noticed that falls seem to happen in slow motion. I was walking. I realized, suddenly, that my foot, which places itself squarely on the ground time after time, was on angle for no good reason. I screamed at my ankle "REPOSITION, REPOSITION!"
It was too late -- too much of my body weight was already on that mal-positioned ankle and my ankle was twisting further. I was falling. I reached out my hand (sort of, my hand wasn't really feeling that dedicated to catching my falling body weight) screaming at my wrist, "don't break!" I fell, sliding across the asphalt parking lot. As soon as I hit ground, I was picking myself up, glancing around, praying that no one saw the fall. For some reason, I don't like people rushing over, asking if I am OK....because then, the inevitable question, "What happened? Why did you fall?" I already knew there was no good reason for the fall. No, the asphalt had not reached up and grabbed my ankle. No, there was no ice -- it had been cold in the morning, so it might have been a previously frozen piece of asphalt, but thawed asphalt is just not an excuse for falling. My trusty ankle had failed me. That was it. I hobbled over to my van, climbed in, and did the quick neuro check. My ankle was throbbing. Actually, the entire right side of my body was numb -- too many nerves stretched into distances beyond their normal path. The pain was intense, but not enough to suggest a broken bone.Last night, as I was watching TV (my internet was down again....going to Walmart to pick up a new modem, later), I had one of the worst Charlie horses in my life. I think it was because the muscles in that leg had been stretched inappropriately during the fall, and they just wanted to protest the whole falling process. I protest the process! I think there should be a rule that after age 30 (or so) one just doesn't fall. But I know that I will continue to fall, and that as I get older the dangers will be greater. I now fully understand why the elderly break hips when they fall. At the rate I am going, I will probably have a broken hip by age 50. I see my future. It is not pretty. Note to self: take that calcium!
Growing old is not for wimps.
We didn't go running today. We had a "winter weather storm" hit the area. They were predicting gall sorts of gloom and doom. Dallas was prepared to be shut down. Instead, there was cold rain, some freezing temperatures, but not enough to close schools, etc. As one forecaster said "this was not the event we were predicting." Yup, you guys got it wrong. Still, I live a few hours north of Dallas, and it is always colder in the country. My deck has frozen precip (the dogs don't think they can walk on it), so I deem it unsafe for my wobbly tottery old self to get out on potentially frozen asphalt (look at what the previously frozen asphalt did to us). Gabi, my cold sensor, has already informed me that it is too cold for whippets and that she hates being abused in this manner. Poor Charlie takes the brunt of her protests (this picture was taken on another day, but I have already noticed her in a similar position):
Hug your hounds, thank your ankles!
