NINE LIVES...

I haven't been around here much the past week. Well, the truth is that at some point I fell into a deep, dark hole that was tricky to get out of. Funny, when you are in that hole, your only options really are to cry for help, or to pull yourself out somehow.

You think I am speaking metaphorically, but no, I actually fell into an actual hole. More specifically the top step leading down from my terrace collapsed under me. (Afterwards I discovered that a rusty nail had been the only thing holding it up for the past six years.) There I was, doing a bit of terrace gardening, carrying a terracotta pot down to empty out. I put my foot on the step and the next thing I knew I was eight feet below, under the steps in the bit where there's spider webs and creepy crawlies and dead things. The pot was broken at the bottom of the steps. It's funny what your reactions are at moments like those. I quietly said "shit" to myself and noted the absence of searing pain that would indicate anything was broken. No one appeared except for my cat and next door's cat, who both looked very concerned. Oh, but then the bawling came and that was a little embarrassing. So I somehow clambered up the inside of the steps and dragged myself inside to bawl like a child in private. It was just the shock.

And that's the amazing thing. Apart from some pretty hardcore bruises and scrapes I am relatively unscathed. I am totally fine - didn't so much as get a cobweb on me. The heavy fabric of my trusty sailor trousers didn't even rip and protected me from too much bleeding. When I look at the hole with the big rusty nail sticking out and the broken step, it doesn't look big enough for me to fit through. I think of what could have happened. Cracked open chin, skull, broken leg or foot or nose or both arms. Lung, artery punctured by rusty nail.

I am the kind of person who avoids sport in case I injure myself, but now that seems a little ridiculous. I feel so lucky and a little more fearless. Weird, I know but true. It was all very Alice in Wonderland but really more like falling into a small well. A well with steps, luckily.

*I think I might need a new category for accidents, illness, broken bones etc. Honestly I am not that accident prone, I just like showing people my bruises, recounting how extremely brave I was etc...

{pic by me - nothing to do with anything except it's still a bit early for peonies here. I'm craving them.}