Taking a Tumble

I can't remember the last time I had a "real" fall. There were some slips and slides while hiking in Chile, but no real headlong sprawls or pratfalls. But today as I was leaving the local grocery store with two large bags and a big plastic jug of milk I tripped over the curly edge of a mat and landed "kersplat" mainly on my left elbow. The tomatoes and a banana got smushed in the process, and my left elbow was royally scraped. The mat was there to keep the wet and dirt from outside confined, but that's what my elbow became intimately acquainted with.

The manager's office was right there and he heard the crash and came to investigate. We've known each other for several years and he's a real nice guy. He was very solicitous and sent the cashier for replacement tomatoes and banana. The bag boy collected the things that had spilled out. We dusted me off and examined the damages. Thank goodness I didn't break anything!

I came home and washed off the dirt--it was a dirty rug, set there to catch the dirt from shoppers' shoes. So besides a bad rug burn I had lots of gravel to soak off. That stung! Then I put some antibiotic ointment over the whole area and covered it with a telfa pad to keep it clean.

Now, about three hours later I can feel that my right pinkie is sprained and there's a very sore spot on my ribs. I don't doubt there'll be a nice bruise on my midriff.

I hope the store either removes the mats or securely tapes down the edges with duct tape. I think there's a real hazard there. If I had been a fragile, elderly person (no, I don't feel elderly in spite of being 70) there could have been serious consequences. I'll heal up pretty soon, and am very glad there were no broken bones.

My biggest regret was that this finished my activity for today. I had a good sleep last night, for once, and was full of energy and ambition today. By the time we ate dinner at 1 p.m. I had gone for a two mile walk with M., dusted and vacuumed the main floor of the house, made 27 small whole wheat dinner rolls, washed the car, made a pot of soup, and cooked dinner. I had plans to come home from my little shopping trip, take a shower and give myself a haircut. Instead, I bandaged up, had a dish of frozen yogurt and read a novel.