black morning

Yesterday morning I embarked on my usual morning walk around the lake. Thermometer by the door read 43 degrees. Fine.

Halfway around the lake, though with an eagle eye out for black ice, I slipped and fell. Not badly, but fell. I fell on ice about four years ago. Not since.

Okay, thinks I, no big deal and continued. One minute later I saw I was completely in the Land of Black Ice. I still don't know if there had just been a quick shower of freezing rain before I began or what. None-the-less, I was in trouble! No other walkers as far as the eye could see and now it seemed just as dangerous to retreat as to proceed. So on I went.

About five minutes later, I fell again - this time I skinned my knee - through thick sweats, mind you. Still, not a bad fall. So from that point on, I basically was walking in/on the deep, hard, crusted snow because both path and streets were totally ice. It was hard painstaking work, but I made it eventually back to my blessed front door.

I was shocked, upon reflection, to realize what a harrowing environment my morning walk had turned into in an instant - one that I have walked almost daily for nearly 20 years and never had I encountered any danger!

My scraped knee throbs. I am so lucky.