Getting Older

Yesterday there was a good bit of snow -- on the roads, the car, the parking lot, etc. Since I decided not to buy a parking pass this year, I headed off to the bus parking lot, to take the bus to campus. (Can I just say how much I love that? LOVE IT!)

Anyhoo, the parking lot was beautiful, all sparkling with ice and snow. I was bundled up warmly in my red down coat, warm hat, gloves, and scarf. Cozy, with my cup of coffee and keys in my right hand, and my extremely heavy bag of books and ungraded (!) papers dangling from my left shoulders.

Can you see what's coming? A couple of steps across the glittering parking lot, and I was down on my hands and knees, coffee muddying the snow, book bag skidding across the ice, and wind knocked right out of my chest. Not to mention the shooting pain in my knees and wrists, which took the brunt of the fall. My ankle had turned and hey presto! down I went.

The worst part was that a young man was walking across the parking lot behind me TOTALLY saw me fall, and he just walked by like he saw nothing. Nothing. No "are you ok?" "Can I help you?" Nothing. It was like he was so embarassed for me that he wanted to ignore what just happened.

That makes me sad for him.

Needless to say I shuffled anywhere I went yesterday, and I did a lot of walking around campus. I felt like an 80-year-old woman staring at the ground and taking tiny steps. Thus the title of this entry.

So as yesterday wore on, my back got stiffer and stiffer, my knee got more and more sore. Slogger was great about it, forcing me to sit and lean against a hot water bottle, etc. Unfortunately, I leave tomorrow for a conference in Florida, and I'll be carrying bags and suitcases galore. Oh well.