Please forgive me for digging up something from the past yesterday instead of doing something original. I think I have something for you today.

To begin, we’ll start with my walk with Max two days ago. It was the evening walk when the disaster happened. The morning walk along the river was very peaceful, but the smoke froum all the trees burning north of us was blowing our direction making visibility less than perfect. Everything was getting encompassed by the smoke restricting visibility to just a couple of miles.

I’m sure some people have difficulty breathing the smoke laden air but I seem to be OK with it. I could barely tell that the smoke was from wood burning. There was just a hint of bonfire fragrance about it but it’s difficult to enjoy the smell knowing that it’s caused by a disaster somewhere to the north. Since I don’t watch much news, I keep track of things by what people tell me. What I know, from that source, is that Spokane has lost many homes and more are expected to be destroyed. I understand that there’s another huge fire burning near Mt. Hood. I haven’t looked to see if that’s true because I believe everything someone tells me and absolutely everything I see on TV so why bother?

On to a different topic, let me tell you about my most recent encounter with Mother Earth. It happened two days ago while walking Max . . . . .

Since we went down to the river in the morning we decided to keep the evening trip local and stayed on Shore Drive clear over to the Meadow Park care center, a trip we’ve taken at lease a 100 times. This time, however, Max drug me to the edge as he tried to get me to make a left turn to go into the housing area up there.

I normally accommodate his desires and took a fatal step toward him but he failed to warn me about the pothole that appeared under my left foot.

I never saw it coming but you can let your imagination go crazy and you’ll probably get close to the truth. When I lowered my left foot in a normal walking motion, it entered the pothole to a depth of about 3 inches below my right foot, alerting me to unmistakable truth that I was probably going to fall. in an asphalt parking lot.

Knowing that something was amiss, I did my best to stop the downward motion of my left foot which immediately ended my control of equilibrium. Sensing this drastic mistake, I re-engaged control of my left and tried to pull it out of the hole which shifted all my weight to my right leg which resulted in my right leg giving up at about the same time my left foot hit bottom.

Upon contact with the bottom of the hole, my left foot rolled outward and I knew that wouldn’t end well but never gave it much thought as the rest of my body started hitting the asphalt in a random manner. First down was my right knee which I wasn’t too worried about because I always wear levi’s. My left knee made contact right after the right one, then I caught all my weight with my outstretched hands. They weren’t stretched out enough to make it a good catch, but they slowed me down a little. Considering past face plants on asphalt, I raised my head a wee bit and made the final contact with the parking lot with my chin.

I didn’t try to get up right away. Instead, I just laid there waiting for all the injured parts to check in so I could assess the damage. My Apple Watch was buzzing frantically on my arm wanting to know if I was OK, or should it call 911. I was sure I didn’t need an ambulance, I declined that offer. It was, however, nice to offer me that choice.

Since I didn’t detect anything catastrophic, I thought maybe I should try to get up before a crowd gathered for this Kodak Moment.

There was no way that I could get up without placing my palms down and pushing up. I thought it would hurt, but it didn’t so I worked my way to a vertical stance and stood there for a moment to see how things were going to go. Since nothing gave way, I took a few steps to check my left ankle and that seemed OK, too, but I had to admit it hurt a little.

I considered continuing on my way around Victorico’s but only got about 7 feet before I had a better idea. We turned around and headed back home. It was the only proper choice. The house was about 1/2 a mile away, but I was pretty sure we could make it. Later, when I told Jennifer about all this, she said I should have called her so she could come get me. I have to admit that didn’t occur to me. Maybe I can train my watch to make her or Jeff a call option the next time I fall.

We made it home without any additional mishaps and I took my place in my recliner before looking at my left ankle or my chin. I checked the ankle first because I knew my chin, though very sensitive, was rather minor because I dabbed at it with a napkin all the way home. I didn’t want blood to get on my T-shirt and all the dabbing I did didn’t reveal much blood.

Then I checked my ankle. It looked like someone had put a golf ball on the left side and stretched my skin over it. It was quite stunning. Since it didn’t hurt to touch it I knew it wasn’t a sprain. Instead, I was sure something was broken.

The kids rallied around me and gave me a lot of advice and let me know who I should have called. Jeff loaned me an ice pack which I laid on my ankle while trying to go to sleep at bedtime. It seemed to work.

Then, yesterday morning Jennifer took me to urgent care so they could take some X-rays of my damaged parts. I was #4 checking in so didn’t have to wait long before my PA, Jennifer C, helped me out. I had X-rays of my left shoulder, both knees, and my left ankle. As the tech walked me back for the photo shoot he told me that walking was OK until one of his pictures revealed a fracture.

After he studied the photos for a minute he brought me a wheelchair then took me in to show me what an avulsion fracture looks like but he could have skipped that part. I’ve had one of those before on my right foot. Now, apparently, I had matching ankles.

Back in the exam room the PA adorned my body with a walking cast bootie, something I’vc never had before. They are quite nice. I wore it all day until it chafed my injured ankle long enough.

After almost a painless day yesterday, many parts of my body are getting the message that something’s wrong that needs attention. My arms hurt from catching the fall, and my ankle pain has included most of my left leg. So, I will be taking one of my pain killers tonight so I can sleep.

Hope all is well with you.