Then (because I had no choice and the water was so ferocious) I was flushed down that long set of rapids -- head first, on my stomach, then churning like something in a Waring blender. I am lucky I didn't crack my head open on all the rocks I slammed into. Lucky I didn't break anything. Lucky there were kind people on the trail and with me.
I'm good and bruised up, though, so we tooled home last night instead of going on to Asheville. Edemas everywhere. Fitful, painful sleep.
I'm better this afternoon. This morning I journaled about this experience, put it all in my notebook. I want to save it. And... I want to share it. It took me five minutes to decide to blog about it.
We have uncountable stories to share, and life is short. Let's get to it.
OnePom will change, I'm not sure how yet. Feel free to stick around; I'm glad to have you here. Alternately, it's okay to slip on off, too, really -- s'okay. I've done it myself.
Today I'm moving slowly. I've spent time in the kitchen doing soothing tasks. Sorting and soaking beans, making stock, folding napkins, choosing colors, creating our midday meal. Walking from and to, forth and back, in the way of making sure every part of me still works (it does) and gets a bit of movement.
Have you had a wake-up call lately? Did it involve pain? Did it flip you over and churn you around and around? What changed?
My life this year has been full of epiphanies. Welcome back.
Thank goodness you are okay! (relatively speaking!) and yet, even with your injuries, you write beautifully.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your encouragement to write about those things that happen to us that are not pleasant. Guess that means I need to write about my recent embarassing experience of falling off of a bike in front of family and strangers on Mackinac Island.
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you, dear. I owe you a note. I haven't forgotten.
ReplyDelete~ Debbie
Oh Deb! I am so glad it was nothing worse than edemas and stiffness.
ReplyDeleteMy wake-up call came ages ago, but I had a reminder of that call just a few weeks ago, when one of my daughter's high-school classmates, who like my daughter was a new college grad, was hit and killed while riding her bicycle. She was working this summer for a white water rafting company. Life is short, accidents happen, so we need to enjoy every bit of it.
The one consolation for all of us about her loss is that while Kate's life may have only been 22 years long, she lived it well, filling her days with activities she loved and good friends, some of whom she had known for 19 years.
djb -- yep, it's all worth your time, it's all story. I'm glad you're okay (embarrassed is one thing; injured is another!).
ReplyDelete~ Debbie
oops, djb -- hmmm... did that come out right? I read it again and thought maybe not. What I mean is that I'm glad you're okay, and yeah... write about it! Or paint it, draw it, tell it, sing it, dance it... somehow, though, save it.
ReplyDeletewowee, Kathy. I'm so sorry. And so heartened, too, because you have been able to take comfort out of such sadness.
ReplyDeleteSomeone said to me years ago, 'there is not a tragedy that does not hold a gift in its hand at some point.' I didn't get that for a long time, and sometimes it still feels hard to see.
Peace to all of you...
~ Debbie
Oh, dearest Deborah, I'm so glad you haven't suffered more. It's the type of event that Comfort might experience, the way she likes to wander in and around those creeks...
ReplyDeleteWe had a very close call here, too. July 2nd my husband was in a scooter accident. I had just arrived home from a writing retreat in NC (a 9 hour drive) when the call came from the hospital. He'd been airlifted to a trauma center. All very scary, but he is home and recovering now. It did turn my life upside down and my stomach inside out. And I've yet to journal about it. But I must. I certainly must.
Life imitates art. Page 159 of Each Little Bird... I thought your ordeal sounded familiar. I wish you the comfort of story and thank your for the story of Comfort.
ReplyDeleteDebbie, I'm so glad you came out of this tumult in one working piece. That must have been very scary!
ReplyDeleteI've had too many wake-up calls of recent years... I'm ready to go back to sleep. ;-) xo, C
Danielle! That same sweet husband I met last summer at Hamline? I'm so sorry -- for both of you. What a shock. You'll write about it when you are ready. Take good care of each other.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, to Comfort and that Rock... I was reading out loud the last pages of LITTLE BIRD to Jim while we listened to some music he wrote for it -- he's writing a score for it -- and I started weeping. I thought it was the music, but I'm sure now that I was identifying with ol' Comfort, too.
~ Debbie xoxo
Cyndi, you sleep all you wanna. You deserve it. :> xoxoxo
ReplyDeleteYikes! I love the Smoky Mountains so so so much and would be jealous...but, um, not so much. Glad you are okay. Dang.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Barb. As Jim said (after all was said and done): "It's not your sport." hahaha.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is wonderful! I have been searching the old Camp Springs Elementary School photos on Google. I stumbled upon your site and your books. I attened a short time there from 1961 to 1964 (1st and 2nd grades).
ReplyDeleteHey, Linda. We were at Camp Springs at the same time, although I am a year or two older than you are. I have lots of photos of the old school that I took when I visited what is lately the senior citizen center. I posted many of them on the blog, and you can see more of them here. https://picasaweb.google.com/115433399718980919230/FrannySWorldIn1962CampSpringsMarylandIn2008
ReplyDeleteDebbie Wiles