Icy Steps

We have one of our few Texas freezes coming up in the forecast, ice. It happens here about twice a winter, in varying degrees from ah-not much to complete stand still for a week.
The following happened during one of those times.

In other moody moments about being a klutz, I was pretty much all alone in the great fall. But I remember one time I only thought I was alone.
The time of which I am speaking now was many moons ago. Before I had any children, maybe why I was moving so fast. Moving fast and the weather were the reasons for this wipeout.

We lived in a small house right next door to my in-laws. My father in-law, my mother in-law and my sister in-law. Now my sister in-law was much younger but like my best friend in those days. Tonya. She was always there when I needed her and she was my bud.

Their house was right next door, across the huge garden area between us. Father in-law was the best gardener in the land! If I were standing on my porch and they were looking out their side door, we could wave at each other.

In this little house I lived in, when you walked out the front door there was a very big front porch. It was a big square that jutted out with 3 sides of stairs going down. It was not covered. The porch and stairs were made of the boards that you use for a deck, so I guess it was like a small deck. There were about 3 or 4 stairs on 3 sides going down to the ground, very nice I thought. Husband built it and most of the house.

Now let's set the scene. It was January and in Texas, so we were having one of our rare but short lived icy things. Not much mind you, Obviously I had no idea there was a tiny layer of ice on this porch with stairs. I was inside all toasty and furiously getting ready for work. Getting ready to run out and get into my truck and go to work.

Running late I am sure, trying to make sure all was well to leave for the day, I was grabbing up all the purse and other such that I carried when I left for work. Hands were full. It was of course in a very small town, where you didn't always lock your door. Had I stopped to lock the door, mayhem may have been avoided.

So here we go... I grabbed up everything, pulled the door to as I was in a mild run. Yep, run. As my hand was still on the doorknob and feet hit the ice, I was a goner. I hit the porch in a flail. Which of course, jerked hand off of doorknob. Slid all the way across the porch top and down the stairs, bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump. Whatever I had in my hands at the time was now yard art.

Gosh you cannot imagine my shock! Again, what the heck happened!!! No need to look, no one was around to see this great happening! I was sprawled across different levels of stairs and ground. This time jeans, no skirt to worry about. No bloodied body parts. Just pain from hitting the porch lengthwise and hitting the edge of every stair. But I guess in this case shock was the big thing.

OK, here we go, I am on ice! No quick jumping up or even standing up. I am now crawling up or attempting to crawl up the steps and back up to the door. Must.... go ..... back... in... and sit down for a minute. Close to the door but not quite there yet I hear the phone ringing.  This of course was back in the day that there were no telemarketers, so when the phone rang, it meant something.

I finally crawled back into the house and grabbed the phone, still huffing from my seemingly mountain climb. And who is it? It is Tonya. Tonya from next door, remember her, my bud? All I hear is uncontrolled laughing, with barely a breath in between, all I can make out of words is "I.......(laugh)... saw...... (laugh) ..... that!"

Of course, after one micro-second of surprise and irritation, now I am laughing, more at her hilarity than my incident. That is until she gave me a blow by blow of what she saw. Then we were crying laughing. So hard there were no more words. I didn't hurt anymore, at least for the moment.

Laughing at yourself, especially when you have company doing it, is a great thing. I wasn't injured as I had been a time before. But still laugh at all my wipeout occurrences. Tonya laughed all the way through it. Am I upset, HECK no, I would have been disappointed if she hadn't.  I actually wish she had been there at other wipeouts. Not that I would have had any help getting up or anything, but I would have enjoyed it a lot more!!! What is a good fall for anyway!!! Except to laugh after-wards!

Laughing that hard is good for the soul and the body! (The falls are not on the other hand.) But please, don't forget to laugh at yourself, otherwise you waste a very good mood enhancer!

PS, I was late to work.