I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend, whether you are
Canadian and celebrated Thanksgiving or American and was able to relax and
enjoy your Columbus Day celebrations whatever they may have been. We had our
Thanksgiving Dinner on the Sunday and since it was kind of damp with the odd
fall shower it was the perfect day. Even though I’m not really one for turkey I
have to admit it turned out perfect. My youngest daughter was in charge of
bringing deserts and bless her heart she baked up a storm making personal
Pumpkin Pie and Apple Pie Tarts. The dinner table talk was filled with memories
of past holiday experiences with lots of giggles and the odd tear of missing
the loved ones that have passed.
Thanksgiving Day Monday this year was greeted by wonderful sunny and warm temperatures. Mother Nature must have been in a good mood for a change making it a good day to take a walk through Apps Mill. We used to take the kids there every year on Thanksgiving Day and since it had been more than a few years since I have been there I had a wonderful time. The colours were amazing and the smell of autumn leaves filled the air. I guess I wasn’t the only one who decided to walk the trails since the parking lot was full and the sounds of children and dogs could be heard. We took our time going through the trails and even did some off trail walking which wasn’t the best idea I ever had. I had forgotten how damn hard it is to get burrs out of clothing not to mention getting them off of Bentley!
I did have a near mishap that put many onlookers in stitches
as they watched my youngest daughter cry out and save me from a fate worse than…well…humiliation???
My daughter is one that loves to take pictures and so she decided that having
me posed sitting on a very low rickety bridge would make for an excellent shot.
I’m not one to have my picture taken but it was such a gorgeous day and I was
in a wonderful mood so I figured what the heck, I’ll do it. I ever so carefully
stepped onto the low bridge to make sure it would hold me. Last thing I wanted
to have happen was me plopping my ass down on that old weather beaten piece of
wood and have it collapse on me. It seemed strong enough and I even bounced on
it a few times just to be certain and all was ok. The bridge was very low and
me being well…it’s hard to gracefully sit down on a few planks of wood that is
maybe 12 inches from the running water going under it, that I thought of a good
idea. I stepped back off the bridge and gingerly stepped down on a log that
seemed firmly embedded into the creek bed and then all hell broke loose! It
seemed the log was NOT firmly embedded and as soon as my weight went on it…the
damn thing moved and then rolled causing me to lose my balance. Have you ever
had that dreaded feeling like “O.M.G. I’m going down and it isn’t going to be
pretty? Well I did and it wasn’t pretty. Yes my ass landed with a hard thump
onto the wood, but then gravity decided my weight should be more distributed
causing me to lie back as I landed and that in turn lead to my one hand
grabbing at anything it could find to stop this impending doom. It turns out
that gravity won. I was semi laying/sitting on these low planks of wood with my
one hand submerged in the cold creek while my legs went upwards at a 90 degree
angle and began flailing helplessly making my ass rock back and forth threating
to send me ass over tea-kettle into the creek. We all know what tunnel vision
is but I had tunnel hearing. I could hear low slow motion laughter and then a
long pronounced MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM coming from my daughter. Her words were
distorted but I heard her call out “grab my hand!” I never seen my life flash
before me, but everything seemed to be going in slow motion as I struggled to
lift my hand out of the creek while balancing on my tail bone with my feet in
the air. It seemed like hours when in fact it was less than 30 seconds as my
daughter rescued me from ending up laying in the creek with my feet in the air.
There were more than a few chuckles as I gracefully sat back up and then “crawled”
across the bridge to get to the other side. I cleared my throat stood up and faced
everyone. I smiled and said, “Damn that was close” and turned and walked down
the trail. An older gentleman off to the side smiled and winked at me and then
said as he held out his hand carved walking stick “maybe I should make one for
you?” I politely smiled and replied “walk
calmly and carry a big stick?” He laughed as I winked at him and continued on
down the trail. There will definitely be NO MORE picture posing for me!
