"Hard" Wood Floors

"I found him first!" said Jake, proudly. "I sniffed and licked and made it all better." Actually that's not quite how things went, but as Jake was first on the scene, I'd say it's close enough for government work. I wish his licks had made it all better so I didn't have to spend the day hobbling round the hospital, but he was well-intentioned and I welcomed his support.

What happened was, I'd entered my study this morning to open windows and let in the morning breeze, such as it was. I didn't bother with a light since I thought I could see where I was going. So, there's this metal fence type of thing that I connect to Jake's crate on days when the dogs have to be alone, giving him an indoor "yard" where he can have potty papers. I'd folded it up and leaned it against an end table out of harm's way. Famous last words. When I turned away from the window, my right foot caught a corner and you can imagine the rest. A flight like that is not one I'll be eager to repeat anytime soon.

I remember stepping into a snow bank once, high up in the Rockies, and thinking, as my knee twisted and I went down, "So, this is what it's like to break a leg." I didn't, miraculously, but the memory has stayed with me. There was no premonition of personal damage this morning and I think it's because I didn't have time to think or was too caffeine-deprived.

At any rate, lying there on the knotty pine floor with Jake inspecting me like a medic on the battlefield, I stretched a leg, then palpated my rib cage -- no fractures. My head, on the other hand, is so hard I was more concerned about the floor. It's funny how we hurt more after the bruises start to appear than we do at the moment of impact. And that's how it came about that I spent the day nursing a sore knee and rubbing an even sorer set of left-sided ribs (numbers four through six for inquiring medical students/residents).

I did learn one thing from this experience, however, that I'd like to pass along. They don't call them hard wood floors for nothing.


(Creative Commons image entitled "Flight" by k-girl via Flickr)