Fall Is In The Air & Immenently On The Ground

As I awoke in my semi-chilly bedroom to cartoons blaring from the living-room I unwillingly got up. After a bit of slow movement & mindlessly shoveling cereal into my mouth I was prodded into action by my husband's taunt, "are you ever going to get moving this morning?" I checked the weather forecast on the computer & saw it was a balmy 28* this morning, giving me the urge to sunbathe, no, more like "cloud-bathe". Yeah, gotta work on that tan no matter what ya know?-Said by me, the pasty white chick writing this !
Instead I countered this minute urge with actually packing for our family-fun-filled-extended weekend of camping in the boon-toolies. I packed my clothes, personal items, medicine & other items to plan for every & any contingency. I can attribute this handy little quirk to being a realist, or what my husband calls a pessimist. Call it what you want, it's better to have junk you don't need than to be in a remote, isolated area & need junk you don't have. I even packed for boredom, kid card games, drawing paper, movies & a hand held game system. I remembered dog food & band aids & toothbrushes (for the kids, not the dogs, hee hee). Yes, Super-mom, that is, until I found out about the one contingency I hadn't planned on. My 6 yr old left his coat at school. Go figure huh? I have to draw the line at breaking into the elementary school to scavenger-hunt through their lost & found box on a Saturday morning. We will manage somehow. A bon-fire, one of Daddy's over sized-coats & my happy pills & anti-anxiety meds should take care of everything! Somehow cloud-bathing is becoming more appealing too. But no! Family fun damn it, that's what this is about, for the kids by golly!!! For the kids. Will they know what I went through? No, They may not even remember the trip at all, but I'll be there with camera in tow, clicking away to make sure they have no choice but to remember.
Yesterday I saw a lady in Walmart using a scooter. I envied her bravery as I am too embarrassed to use one. To filled with anxiety over the possibility of someone confronting me with the "You're not that old, you look fine to me, why are you using this? My wife/husband/whomever needs one & there are none left!" Would I dare to answer or would I automatically assume my needs are insignificant in comparison to someone else's? After waiting in the car for the 2nd 1/2 of the shopping trip, unable to stand & walk any longer, I saw a man in the parking lot moving his scooter with grace & agility from between two cars & into the store. I admired him. I probably would have bumped into something, not knowing how to drive the things. Maybe once invisible illnesses become more readily understood & in the mainstream media, maybe then I will overcome my fears & actually seek the mobility-aids I need. But that is a big Maybe!
When I got something at another store quickly in & out & I climbed back into the truck my bad wrist (hyper mobility) buckled yet again. This time it did not snap one way or the other, it just completely collapsed, sending throbbing pain through my hand Wearing my wrist-brace nearly 24/7 makes me feel like that weird guy on "Prison Break" that has the dead hand sewn on one arm.
Well, the dogs are so happy after the camper taunting them in the driveway for a week or more, their day in the sun (so to speak) has finally come. They are thrilled. My husband even recycled a bit using our old outdoor houselights & mounting them to scrap lumber, building stands to have outdoor lighting run on the generator. Just so nobody stumbles about in the night. He also purchased string lights of trout & beer bottles-one must decorate appropriately for such an outing I suppose. Well, of course after buying such novelties there was no money left to get some of my medicine nor any of his. That man & his priorities I tell you what. But the heart wants who it wants...which may explain his staying with me as well. He is now getting ice for the ice-chests, then packing them & then the other crazy family will meet us & off we will go. So, if you don't hear from me by next Wednesday just know my high IQ hubby, who holds in all emotion until he explodes & has been given cutlery by his older brother always said what Scott Peterson did wrong & how it should properly be done. So, alert the Media if I'm not back in touch - OK?
Be Blessed, Dear Readers, whomever your higher power be. Be thankful for mobility in any form & for mobility aids being available. Be thankful for cameras & building family memories, no matter how or what the consequences.