skirt in the suburbs-Part 2: uneven sidewalks

Last week I "bit it". I was experiencing one of my most energetic runs, bopping along to some pop song and feeling the warm breeze on my face...until suddenly I went... CRASH. BANG. UM... OUCH. That is...I tripped on a small piece of uneven sidewalk and went flying into the air, skid across the sidewalk and flipped over back onto my feet. My Indestructible self continued jogging until I realized that my knee was gushing blood and my entire right side was throbbing with extreme pain. I immediately stopped and sat down on a patch of grass. The events happened pretty far from my living quarters in this random area of the neighboring town, and thank G-d I actually had my cell phone snugly packed in my nifty skirt pocket. First I was furious that I wouldn't complete my mileage goal for the week and second, I was sort of stranded. Mind you this happened on a main road, right near an intersection. Did any one stop to help me? Yes, ONE PERSON, and guess where he was from? FLORIDA. Of course, in other states, people actually stop to help strangers. I sat there feeling very uncomfortable that my knee was laying there naked gushing with blood, but I had to hold up the skirt a bit to keep it from getting soaked. The skirt does have short leggings underneath, but still...I must cover my knees at all times. That’s why I wear the darn skirt in the first place. If we cover our knees because they are supposedly attractive, then at least a bleeding knee is somewhat less attractive and maybe no one would care? The Florida dude wanted to help but I firmly shoo-ed him away by reassuring him that someone was coming to help me. I did not want him to see my naked bleeding knee.

Its amazing how one minute you can be bopping along havin' a grand ole' time and the next minute you are moping about your ugly naked knee.

An uneven sidewalk is just two chunks of cement that no longer meet together to make one surface.

They exist everywhere. People get divorced because they no longer fit together; they aren't willing to fix themselves to make the two pieces one surface again. Relationships can come to a huge CRASH. BANG. UM...OUCH, if the uneven sidewalk isn't fixed. Either we regularly neglect fixing the uneven sidewalks or they are just part of the natural order of things. Maybe they will always exist and you just have to pay attention to them, work around them.

You can always learn something from an uneven sidewalk. I learned to pay attention to details, to beware of becoming overly confident, and to relax and appreciate my knees. (In case you were worried, I have "bounced back"...my knee is fine now, just some scabs and bruises. It might take me awhile to stop staring at the sidewalk with extreme paranoia...soon I might crash into a mailbox or something...)