"Nanakorobiyaoki"....a Japanese proverb

"Fall down seven times, get up eight"

I wish I had some highfalutin parallel from my life to illustrate this proverb, but I don't. No mentions of emotional strife ending in triumphant glory here.

This morning as I was leaving our place, my heels, all 2 inches of them, slipped down some steps outside our condo. I truly think it was a combination of dewy steps, my gifted klutziness, and a pair of shoes that continually plots vengeance against me.

It happened so quickly, I barely knew what had befallen me until I was in pain, sitting upright on my knees with the stone stoop and insulated lunchbag cushioning my fall. I totally figured I had lost a toenail or three since I was wearing sandals in November. But aside from some chipped polish, the toes looked okay. Instead, it was my poor left shin that took the brunt of everything. Saved by my polyester-synthetic blend pants fabric, thankfully my skin was spared a couple of layers. I still couldn't move for a couple of seconds because I had the horrid thought of "what if I broke my tibia?!"

Nah...just a flesh wound. It's a mysterious shade of dusty blue, purple, green, and caucasian. I wanted to cry out "BRENT!" but I refrained from doing so, since I was collapsed on my neighbor's doorstep. Lovely. Can you imagine opening your front door to find some bedraggled girl kneeling in pain with her purse's contents strewn everywhere? Yeah, neither could I.

I knew Brent was right there at our front door because he was leashing Cubbie up for her morning walk. I just waited til I heard his feet on the landing and Cubbie's fluffy face look at me quizzically, "What is she doing down there?"

Brent quickly came down as I began uttering through tears "I fell...." I must have looked like a complete idiot. He picked up my purse and totally crushed lunchbag (and contents) and helped me dust off. I drove off to work wincing from the scrapes.

Thankfully, one of the many perks of working at a doctors' office is unlimited access to first-aid supplies and thoughtful coworkers. Karla offered to bandage me up, and I'm impressed, it truly looks like I survived a fall from a three-story building, and not a fall down two steps. Ice has been my new companion for the day...amazing how something so simple can help so much.

Meanwhile, the fate of the cute, strappy sandals remains unknown....