Tumble

On Sunday last I decided to sow some clover seed in the ditch at the front of the house. It had rained and the conditions were favourable for the seed. I grabbed my jacket, with my keys and cell phone, which I always carry with me when I am out in the yard and here alone, and headed out the front door.

The front porch and steps were wet. I didn’t think anything of it. At the top step my foot slipped on the water. Up I went into the air, and down I came on the edge of the top step, then down the rest of the steps to the ground. It happened so quickly that I didn’t realize anything was happening until I was on the ground. My glasses had flown free of the fall, landing a few yards from me. I was temporarily stunned, confused and unsure how badly I was hurt. Then I went into mild shock. I sat there gathering strength, covered with clover seed, soaking wet, until I felt strong enough to attempt standing. I couldn’t feel anything at this point, my back was numb. I gathered up my glasses, removed my shoes, and gingerly attempted to mount the stairs. I made it into the house without further incident.

The shock lasted for about ten minutes. I was still shaking when Attila called, and I as so relieved to hear from him that I started to cry. Poor Attila, he wanted to come to my assistance, but was so very far away, frustrating for both of us.

I was able to walk without pain, so nothing was broken.

The big horseshoe was there for me on this one, as the muscled area of my buttocks took the brunt of the fall. The bruise is about three inches high and stretches from one end of my back to the other. It is very impressive. And it hurts. But only when I touch it. The skin around my spine was brushed away by the edge of the stairs, and that “brush burn” is quite painful as well. I cannot lie on my back, nor can I sit with my back touching anything. Loose clothing is a necessity.

So here it is Tuesday, and the bruise is a true sight to behold. So many colours! There are a few smaller bruises up and down my back, but they are minor by comparison.

Monday, and again today, I was able to comfortably navigate my daily walk. I cannot do some of the physiotherapy exercises for my knee though, it will be some time before I can do the ones that require lying on my back. Yoga class is out of the question. Wearing my backpack has become extremely painful, I will have to avoid that for a while as well.

Monday morning I decided to take the whole thing in hand. No more hemming and hawing about what we should do about the front step! I went to home depot and purchased rubber stair treads, and rubber squares for the decking. The stair treads are heavy, and they don’t move underfoot, even though they are not attached in any way. Attila thinks we should secure them with double sided tape, so I will leave that to him. I tested them carefully this morning, as it had rained just before I ventured out on my walk, and they were secure and gave excellent traction underfoot, under very wet conditions.

As far as I can tell so far, I sustained no permanent damage from the fall. How lucky is that!!

I have been spending my days on my genealogy book. I am mired in researching one particular branch of the family that I had not done much work on to date. What held me up on this branch was access to USA documents. It is extremely expensive to access US data through ancestry, so I left this branch of descendants for later investigation. There was nothing for it but to pay the price for a month’s access to the records and to get busy. So I have been spending ten or more hours a day reading old census records, and birth, marriage, and death records. I find Ancestry’s search function poor, it provides mountains of irrelevant information when a search is conducted. I have finished seven of the twenty-nine families that need to be researched. Sometimes my eyes cross, the names are similar and can blur together. I take a lot of short breaks to clear my head, to start afresh.

It has been a lovely afternoon here, warm but not hot, breezy but not windy, and quiet with the windows open.

Clematis: looking out the kitchen window. This plant was in the front garden before we removed the concrete porch. It was dying, only a few small leaves grew. We transplanted it to the back yard, beside the garden gate, and now it seems very happy.

Worldly Distractions

Weather

22°C
Date: 7:00 PM EDT Tuesday 23 June 2015
Condition: Mainly Sunny
Pressure: 100.9 kPa
Tendency: rising
Visibility: 24 km
Temperature: 21.9°C
Dewpoint: 15.6°C
Humidity: 67%
Wind: WSW 18 gust 34 km/h
Humidex: 26

Quote

“Only the mediocre are always at their best.”
Jean Giraudoux
1882 – 1944