No, I'm not talking about water cascading downward over rocks or leaves coming of the trees in autumn. I'm talking about falls.
I hate it when the doctor asks me whether I have fallen because if I answer yes, it will certainly be recorded as a sign of decline during old age. In reality, while I might be more likely to fall today, I probably haven't gone a full year in my lifetime without falling. When I fall, it's usually because I'm in the woods walking over logs, ruts, roots, and holes in the ground; because I'm walking on sheer ice in our driveway or along one the paths that I clear in the back yard; because I'm running up or down the stairs; or just because I'm not paying attention.
There were only two times that I can recall when I have fallen without knowing the reason for the fall, and one of them was almost certainly because I had slipped on ice.
The driveway was icy and, while I don't remember the fall, that probably had something to do with the fact that I hit my head and was unconscious for a time. I know that I was trying to be careful walking across sheer ice on the driveway, and then I was lying on my back on the driveway, the back of my head hurt, I was very cold, and Ella was curled up on the ice alongside my head, when she could have gone into the house where it was warm through the cat door that we had at the time. While I suppose it's possible that I could have passed out or something, it's more likely that the hit on the head simply removed the slip and fall from my memory.
The other time, I was on one of my walks through the woods. Although I had navigated animal trails in the woods just fine, I wasn't entirely sure where I was, but I had a compass and knew I was going in the right direction. I came across a graveled logging road that was fairly smooth, and was walking along that road when suddenly I fell, hurting my hand. It looked like I had broken it, but it turned out not to be broken, and that road came out about a quarter mile from the Millinocket Hospital, which is where I walked to. There again, I don't think that I passed out and felll or that any of my legs just gave way. Although I wasn't aware of tripping over anything, I may have.
A couple of days ago, after our quarter-inch of snow, I was scraping the snow from my paths. One of them went down an embankment that was so icy that I stupidly thought that maybe I could simply slide down it because I didn't feel like going around. Instead, I ended up on my back, and my left shoulder and left elbow still hurts.
This was the fourth time that I've ended up on my back this winter, but each time it was because I had slipped on the ice. Twice it was on the driveway, once while I was spreading salt, and the other time I spread the salt after the fact. The other two times, I slipped on ice on the paths that I had cleared in the yard, so I don't really want to spread salt on my yard. Where my age might play a role is that I'm not as good at the recovery that I might have been several years ago. When I was younger, I wouldn't necessarily fall to the ground on my back when I slipped, and it wouldn't take so long for the pain to go away.
I hate it when the doctor asks me whether I have fallen because if I answer yes, it will certainly be recorded as a sign of decline during old age. In reality, while I might be more likely to fall today, I probably haven't gone a full year in my lifetime without falling. When I fall, it's usually because I'm in the woods walking over logs, ruts, roots, and holes in the ground; because I'm walking on sheer ice in our driveway or along one the paths that I clear in the back yard; because I'm running up or down the stairs; or just because I'm not paying attention.
There were only two times that I can recall when I have fallen without knowing the reason for the fall, and one of them was almost certainly because I had slipped on ice.
The driveway was icy and, while I don't remember the fall, that probably had something to do with the fact that I hit my head and was unconscious for a time. I know that I was trying to be careful walking across sheer ice on the driveway, and then I was lying on my back on the driveway, the back of my head hurt, I was very cold, and Ella was curled up on the ice alongside my head, when she could have gone into the house where it was warm through the cat door that we had at the time. While I suppose it's possible that I could have passed out or something, it's more likely that the hit on the head simply removed the slip and fall from my memory.
The other time, I was on one of my walks through the woods. Although I had navigated animal trails in the woods just fine, I wasn't entirely sure where I was, but I had a compass and knew I was going in the right direction. I came across a graveled logging road that was fairly smooth, and was walking along that road when suddenly I fell, hurting my hand. It looked like I had broken it, but it turned out not to be broken, and that road came out about a quarter mile from the Millinocket Hospital, which is where I walked to. There again, I don't think that I passed out and felll or that any of my legs just gave way. Although I wasn't aware of tripping over anything, I may have.
A couple of days ago, after our quarter-inch of snow, I was scraping the snow from my paths. One of them went down an embankment that was so icy that I stupidly thought that maybe I could simply slide down it because I didn't feel like going around. Instead, I ended up on my back, and my left shoulder and left elbow still hurts.
This was the fourth time that I've ended up on my back this winter, but each time it was because I had slipped on the ice. Twice it was on the driveway, once while I was spreading salt, and the other time I spread the salt after the fact. The other two times, I slipped on ice on the paths that I had cleared in the yard, so I don't really want to spread salt on my yard. Where my age might play a role is that I'm not as good at the recovery that I might have been several years ago. When I was younger, I wouldn't necessarily fall to the ground on my back when I slipped, and it wouldn't take so long for the pain to go away.
Last edited:
I have danced a few times around my cat(s) over the years too. 
