Falling to the floor or ground is not good. I learned over the years that the cause of death for most seniors is directly connected to falls, subsequent surgeries and short failed recovery’s.
I fell or tripped over Bo a couple of nights ago, not too bad, but jarring. Then I fell yesterday coming down the slope. Not bad, more a slip and soft landing. I almost fell on the rock path on the north side of the lake as we tried to get both dogs down the hill. They were tangled together, Debbie was unaware of the mixup and was heading down the hill in her usual speed. At the back was me, and two dogs being led down the hill at her speed, something I do not try to keep up with.
As it turns out, the anticipation of the impending fall was as traumatic as the fall could have been. I didn’t fall that time, but I feel more stress over it that other actual falls. Kind of a Pre-Fall traumatic stress. I think it affected me throughout the day. As I think about it today, a day later, I think it was a loss of control that pained me the most.
It reminds me of driving and being in control of the car wheel while your passenger is imagining the worst as you drive and they worry. They have little to no control, you have much more control. You don’t have total control, but you can live with that as long as you can see a clear path ahead. Your passenger lives with extra stress. This can be moderated, but often is left alone, to take its emotional toll on the pax.
I feel a lot better today. I think my hormones were in flight mode yesterday and they have gone back into their caves and allowed me to function with less brain fog. Feels good. I just need to keep everything under control today.
So back to the birds, the picture below shows where they are piling up, near the spillway on the dam. Shovlers, Bufflehead, Coots, Geese and Mallards. No breeze, felt like 16, not bad. We both wonder what keeps the birds from moving South, what trigger is needed to get them back into the air? Could it be the ice overtaking the water? We’ll see in the days ahead as it should be all ice soon.
