there must be a story there....

"So, am I to understand that you broke both your ankles sneaking out your own window so your dog wouldn't know you left? There must be a story there. "

i received this email from a fellow dog lover, and was immediately relieved. you see, now that i've started this blog, i am worried about having something to say. in particular, something interesting. worthy. god, i'll settle for something coherent. after all, what's the point if i gave a blog, and nobody came?

so thanks to my friend, for reminding me that we've all got stories, if we just look for them, and take the time to listen to each other....

now, about the pic. this was taken back in september 2005, shortly after being discharged from the hospital after surgery to repair a nasty fracture of my right ankle. i also had a non-surgical fracture of the left foot which was hugely more painful and purple than the right side....nevertheless, they shipped me home with a walker and expected me to navigate. ha! i was non-weight bearing on the surgical side for weeks and for all intents and purposes non-weight bearing on the left without the benefit of anesthesia. (note: you will hear me refer to my injury as "i broke my ankles" since it's so much briefer than "i broke my right ankle and my left foot"). necessity being the mother of invention, you can see me skeining some yarn using my otherwise useless foot. oh, and vandwellers! look in the background to see my luggable loo kitty litter bucket used in conjunction with my bedside commode, thereby elimimating the need for someone to come every day to empty the potty.

so where's the story here? it started with a road trip. i had planned to travel around for a couple weeks to a couple of rendezvous and to a gathering of friends at seneca rocks in west virginia. on aug 31st, i had gotten the truckhut all geared up and driven it to my mechanics that evening to have the oil changed, etc. she would deliver it to me the next morning, and i would drive her back to her place, return for mutt, load the cooler, and be on our way.....

mutt was in a high state of excitement, as he always is when he sees the gear going in the truck, signaling "road trip!" but he had been pretty traumatized by my recent stay in the hospital, and i didn't want him to think i was leaving without him when i drove Cathy back to the garage. god forbid he should experience 5 minutes of anxiety, so i did what any doting 50 year old dogmom would do..... i climbed out my bedroom window, fell, and well, you know the rest of the story.

the next few months were long and boring. my favorite time of the year, and to be house bound near drove me insane. i managed to stay out of trouble for the most part, if you don't count the day i got fed up, and using my walker and a rolling desk chair, managed to wrastle my wheelchair out the door and off the porch so i could go for a ride down the road. except the township had just oiled and chipped the dirt road, and the hot sun had softened it into a gooey mess. i ended up stuck like tar baby, but that is another story......

oh, and for the record, i don't do windows anymore.