Day 2-61 -- Slipping into Work

Today I broke the perfect upright record. I fell on the way into work. It was snowing so there was an inch or two over the ice. I managed to keep it together until the odd corner we have in town. There are 3 lanes -- a straight-through east, a left turn (facing east) and a straight- through heading westish. With all the accumulated ice near the curbs, there are actually two and a half lanes. There were people heading straight (east - ish) and one in the turning lane. The transport truck heading west (ish) was stopped as there was no where near enough room to accommodate that size of vehicle until the car in the turning lane turned. I was waiting on the island at this odd 3-way 'corner' and the woman turning (another professor from campus) was waving at me to cross. I, in turn, waved her on <smile>. She turned the corner and stopped once she was on the new road and out of the way of the transport. Again, she waited for me to cross. Seeing there were still many cars stopped behind the truck and that he wasn't going to move until she was further down the street, I decided to go across and just get it over with.  I was rushing and not fully paying attention when I had to step up onto the curb. This is about 12+ inches from the road surface -- all sheer ice. Generally, I pause here and choose my path, but with the traffic and all the snow, I just stepped up. Immediately, I slid slowly down the ice pile landing on my left side. I believe I said, "well, shoot" as I fell, but I could be mistaken <smile>. I realized as I righted myself that the car tires were just 3 feet away and that the driver would have no way of seeing me. I stood up and waved to her that I was OK as she was mouthing to me "are you alright?"  I then turned and took another step up and moved on with my journey --as did all the cars waiting.

I feel fine. The slowness of the fall meant no hard landings or major twisting. I may find something tomorrow, but it has been a while and nothing has surfaced, so I don't expect any new pains to surface. I find it interesting that the brain goes through many things while falling or in any accident. The gentleness of my fall was likely much faster than it seemed. It is like watching a dish slip out of your grasp and fall to the floor. It seems like you should have been able to catch it -- it was happening so slowly. Reality seems suspended or put into very slow motion. Perhaps this is a type of preservation process, stopping one from trying to catch a dish and get cut or struggle when falling which could create further damage. Interesting. I may need to read up on this <grin>.

Several great songs came to my mind as I continued my walk to the office. I settled on one to share today. It says it all <smile>.  Two other songs that also were playing in my head can be found on day 2-19 and day 328. Enjoy!

I Fall Down -- U2