We all do dumb things once in a while and I’m no exception. I’m always laughing at myself for some ridiculous thing I’ve done.
Like, when I fell in the bath tub, crossways, while standing on a chair hanging curtains in the bathroom.
And, just before leaving for my first cruise to Bermuda, I tripped over a box and landed head first in a bucket, breaking my arm as I fell.
And there was the time I tripped on the sidewalk blocks and slid on my nose?
Now, I thought that I had learned my lessons from these accidents, so I would be careful in the future, when working around the house. After all, statistics prove that most accidents happen in and around the house.
I guess I didn’t learn my lesson very well, because I did it again---yes, another dumb thing.
Let me tell you the story of the leaves and the garbage can. And, I hope you learn something from it.
We had just finished celebrating my daughter and granddaughter’s birthdays. (They are both on the same day.) It was a nice day as I walked across the street to my little corner of the world, and decided to finish a job I started the day before.
I had raked up a few piles of leaves and debris, trying to clean up around the yard, it was looking pretty bad. There were about five piles of leaves and branches scattered around the yard. The wind was beginning to blow, so I hurried to get them into the garbage can before they were scattered around the yard again.
I pushed the garbage can close to the first pile of leaves, flipped open the lid, and started picking up arm loads of leaves. As the wind picked up, I grabbed the coal shovel to finish the job faster. I was about to shovel in the last pile of leaves, which was a few feet away, so I started to push the can closer to the leaves when it stopped. It was caught on one of the patio bricks that make up my sidewalk, so I tilted the garbage can toward me to get it over the block and as I did, I stepped on the lid that was hanging down, the garbage can fell toward me and I plunged head first into that garbage can and was buried in leaves.
After shouting a few sea-faring terms, I got up, dusted myself off and finished my job.
When I shed my clothes to take a shower and wash the dirt and leaves out of my hair, I wasn’t surprised by the bruises that covered my legs. One on the right leg was extremely bad, and as black as the ace of spades and swelling fast. By the time I was dresses it was three times the size of my other leg and it hurt like the devil. I could walk on it, so nothing was broken. Thank God! That leg caught the edge of the garbage can lid and took the brunt of the fall.
I brought out the ice pack and elevated my leg in the recliner to help the swelling and keep it from throbbing so badly. I thought to myself, “If I had a brain I’d be dangerous.”
It’s been a week now, and most of the swelling is gone and my leg is now purple instead of black and blue. The leg still has a lump the size of my hand and it still hurts when touched, but at least I can get around again, without pain.
We humans do some of the dumbest things. If only I had closed the lid before I moved the garbage can, this wouldn’t have happened. And, it had to happen right before I am about to go back to New York. Maybe it is some sort of Freudian slip. Go Figure!
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