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Hello Karma – Nice to Meet You

The other day my dog, Rufus, took a little spill off the bottom step that goes out my back door. It was such a short distance that I knew right away he was okay. Still, bless his heart, I think he was upset that I didn’t help him up quicker (not from lack of effort on my part, trust me). Seriously, he fell all of a little bit and even then, he landed on a bag of soft potting soil, you know, the good kind that is mostly air and fluff anyway. I’ll admit, a quickly stifled giggle did escape when I saw him lying there on my gardening supplies gazing up at me with his big, brown eyes. Despite knowing there was just no way he could be hurt, and further knowing that had he wanted to, he could have simply gotten up on his own, I nonetheless dropped my end of the leash that was hooked to his harness and rushed over to placate his pride.

Despite my loving assistance, I guess he was offended by how long it still took me to get there, because he gave me a stricken look me as if to say, “Are you seriously moving that slow? Oh, the betrayal.” I picked him up, brushed him off, snuggled with him, and then he was off doing whatever it is he wanted to do in the yard as if nothing happened. I even gave him an unexpected snack when we went back into the house. No harm, no foul.

Or so I thought.

On Monday, I fell face-first from the TOP step of a 4-step staircase right onto a concrete patio. No rhyme. No reason. No one pushed me. I didn’t trip. My feet just didn’t work. Go figure. I didn’t land on my face, thank the gods that be, but I definitely messed up my hands, wrists, and knees. So yeah. Hello there, karma. Nice to meet you. My bad for not taking Rufus’ misstep a bit more seriously.

I thought the fall was the worst part, but there’s been a ripple effect of delayed pain that’s been even worse. The day after the fall my back decided to get into the game too. Maybe I twisted it funny. Although really, whoever thought it was funny should have their head examined.

To top it all off, guess who was walking around the yard without a care in the world while I was trying (and failing) to get back up on my feet. You guessed it…Rufus. There I am, flailing around on the ground, unable to get up, and after a while, starting to give serious thought to, “Gee, maybe I should just stay outside for today,” and there’s Rufus idly traipsing around, sniffing the grass, and looking for squirrels, leash dragging behind. Not one ounce of concern for his ailing mom, no sir. I’m not going to say I deserved his cold shoulder, but damn, that was a reality check. Thankfully I still had Petra, who stayed glued by my side worried about me and whining. Guess who got a snack that day when we finally made it back in the house!?

There’s always a silver lining, regardless of how bad a situation is. The blessing in all of this was ultimately my laziness. Yes, you read that right. Laziness. You see, all of this happened on Monday. Well, on Sunday, I never finished the laundry, so I was out of shorts. Hey, don’t roll your eyes at me. It was just one of those weekends. So, anyway, even though it was certainly hot enough outside to warrant shorts, I was in fact wearing pants. It was a good thing too or my knees, which took the brunt of the fall, would be scraped to hell in addition to being just swollen. Fun science fact: concrete is hard. Who knew? Another fun fact: old concrete is jagged and crumbly. Even worse.

The lesson I’ve learned here is that laziness is not always a bad thing after all. But not being able to move as fast as The Flash to grab your pet when he missteps to save his pride? That can be a serious problem.

21 thoughts on “Hello Karma – Nice to Meet You”

  4. Rufus, What were you thinking? Mummy was flailing around and you purposely ignored her traumatic episode. Naughty lad. Methinks Mummy should check the steps as both of you doing the do-si-do is a bit curious.

    Wendy, What were you thinking? Allowing even the tiniest snort of mirth to escape your mouth, whilst Rufus was lying on the bag of soil was unforgivable to him, at least. (Holding hand over mouth … body shaking.)

    I believe you both need treats.

    Petra, You are the one who has set a good example to these two. Well done to you.

    Smile all around. This cheered me up.

    • Yes, Petra was really good. I do think she was worried about me. She’s a sweetheart. As for Rufus, he’s normally tied to my hip and has to be under my feet even if I’m just walking from the chair to get a drink and then back again. He likes to keep an eye on where I’m going. I think just perhaps he figured “hey, I know where she’s going to be for a while, it’s not like she can move, so I’ll just go and do my thing and she’ll be here when I get back…” The little bugger. 😀

  5. Glad to see that you made it through the ordeal with only bruises and aches! I hope your back and joints get over their upset and allow you to recombobulate ASAP. As for Rufus, he should remember who has the opposable thumbs in the family and thus who controls the treats!

    • You would think he would keep the person who opens the dog food happy, right? But no, apparently not. And who knows, a little bird told me I might have a new career in aviation or stunts, so hey, maybe it’ll work out after all. 😀

  6. Ouch! Kids bounce when they fall, no harm no foul. But adults…we’re always jarring something or twisting something. Something that often bites us in the arse years later. Hope you’re ok.

  7. I actually was sad, by now I am belatedly wishing you less pain or at least liquid refreshments to help ease the pain. Well, I do think more about karma these days, Wendy. But seriously falling down 4 steps is serious, Wendy!

    • You are so thoughtful and kind! I’ve been overindulging in iced coffee the past few days which always puts me in a good mood, so there’s always that! And as the days go by, everything is slowly feeling better, so that’s good too. I hope your week has gone well and that you have some fun plans in place for the weekend.

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