SOLSC 12: Am I a Wuss?

            I was supposed to meet a friend downtown to see a movie, in a theater! (First time in months.) Just 3 blocks to the subway from my home, and three blocks from the subway to the theater.

            At 3 p.m., I left my building to walk up from Riverside Drive to Broadway. There’s a slight hill — and a stiff wind coming off the Hudson River. I walked halfway up the block with walking sticks and felt all right — but then I thought ahead. I’d be coming home in the evening, the wind could get worse, there’s snow predicted.

            I turned around to feel the wind in my face. It was strong and steady. I remembered a day last year when I was so battered by wind crossing a broad street that I retreated to near a building until the wind weakened. I do not want to fall. I felt like a wuss. But I decided not to take the risk.

            Back in the lobby of my building, the super told me five older people in our building have fallen walking down our block. I’m almost 80. My husband fell on slushy ice and was dead two years later. Now back in the safety of my apartment, I keep telling myself, “You’re smart, you're not a wuss.” Maybe “I’m a smart wuss.”

 

 

 

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I’m participating in the 15th annual Slice of Life Challenge over at Two Writing Teachers. This is day 12 of the 31-day challenge.  It’s not too late to make space for daily writing in a community that is encouraging, enthusiastic, and eager to read what you have to slice about.  Join in!

 

SOLSC: Falling, Again

            After losing then finding my phone yesterday (in yesterday’s Slice of Life story), I went to dinner at one of New Orleans’s most famous, and oldest (since 1840), restaurants, Antoine’s. The food was delicious (soft-shell crab with butter-almond sauce and a roasted corn side. Along with food a very good chardonnay. I mention the wine because it may have contributed to what happened later.

            After dinner I set out to walk back to my B&B. When I got to Bourbon Street, the crowds of people in the street and music coming from all the clubs and bars lured me to join them. I strolled along for a few blocks until the crowds thinned.

            As a car approached from behind, I thought it was time to get back on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, I picked a spot where a driveway curved into the sidewalk, and as I stepped up, my foot landed badly, and I fell forward. Not as badly as two years ago, but in protecting my head, I jammed my finger against the pavement.

            Passersby stopped to help. A self-styled street person said he’d seen many people fall where I had, then asked if that made me feel better. (It did.) After severa; minutes, I gathered myself and got over my shock. They helped me to my feet, and one couple walked me up to the main street, and I walked, gingerly, back to my local home.

            The B&B proprietor had a good first aid kit, and I went off to bed wondering how sore I’d be in the morning.

            By which time, my skinned knee felt fine, but my left pinky was very painful whenever I bent it. So off to an Urgent Care clinic to see whether there was any broken bone. Fortunately, there wasn’t. And the x-ray tech gave me this brace (left) to hold the pinky and its neighbor steady—the C component of R(est), I(ce), C(ompression), and E(levate). 

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I’m participating in the 11th annual Slice of Life Challenge over at Two Writing Teachers. This is day 2 of the 31-day challenge.  It’s not too late to make space for daily writing in a community that is encouraging, enthusiastic, and eager to read what you have to slice about.  Join in!