Well, it’s 2019 and sadly nothing is looking particularly
rosy. The world of politics is a shambles. PBS has little to offer in the way
of new mysteries. The weather is unfortunate. And I think I’ve run out of stories to tell. I happen to
be closing on seventy years and am realizing that most of my adventures are behind
me.
I did fall down the other evening. I had a package to return
to L. L. Bean and the UPS man pulled up across the street. It was after dark,
so I trotted down the driveway, continued on the sidewalk, walked up to the
truck, and scared the bejabbers out of the driver. I am paraphrasing his own
rather descriptive words. Apparently, I move rather stealthily. Who knew?
At any rate, on my return to the house I took a short cut across
the lawn because it was a tad chilly. Tom was watching my progress from the
window. He, of course, turned away just as the flowering cherry in the front
yard deliberately stuck out a root and viciously tripped me. Down I went, banging the hell out of my knee
and wrenching my wrist and shoulder while narrowly missing cracking my head on
the landscape tie bordering our bed of ivy. No one came to my rescue because no
one saw me go down.
After quietly assessing my various bumps and bruises and confirming
that nothing was broken and celebrating the fact that my bones must be in pretty
good shape, I limped into the kitchen. “I fell down,” I said.
My wonderful husband Tom is a master of denial, especially
when it comes to my health. So, “No you didn’t,” was his response. And he
believed it. Problem solved.
When I assured him that the problem was not solved and that
I actually had fallen and would appreciate a bag of ice for the knee which was
rapidly swelling, he got me the ice. But then had to tell me exactly where I
went wrong. If I had just stayed on the sidewalk and come up the driveway
instead of cutting across the lawn, I would not have tripped on a root.
I’m not an idiot. I had already figured this out. I was well
on the way to understanding my mistake as I was flying through the darkness. I
was saying to myself, “Why the hell don’t you look where you’re going?”
Why do men do this? It’s not just Tom. It’s well documented
that men need to instruct even when it’s clear you already have the picture. I
don’t understand why can’t men just give you a hug and say, “Here’s the ice, sweetie.
Twenty minutes on, twenty off.”
At any rate, I have to admit that after his initial
reluctance to acknowledge my little mishap, he was very solicitous. He finished
making dinner and cleaned the kitchen. Which is why I’m pretty sure we’ll make
it through 2019 together, politics and PBS be damned.
