that'll leave a bruise...

So, there I was, having a pretty nice day, getting things done.

My new neighbor, Ray, is getting a new roof and he'd called in a tree man, John, to clear off the oak overhang so that task could be accomplished.

As I'd carried the laundry out to the car, John had come over to make sure the branches he'd taken down weren't in my way.

I took advantage of the situation to ask him about trimming the oak limbs above my roof as well, plus the crepe myrtle limbs draping on top of the sunroom roof.

Sure, he'd take care of it for me!

Even better, he'd only charge me $75, as he was already working at the house next door.

Oh, and he said he'd even accept a check! No trip to the bank needed!

So, off I went to the laundry in Sandfly, glad to have a task unexpectedly checked off my list!

Then I washed the two loads of laundry (towels and panties, then shirts, nightgowns, socks, face coverings, and pants), got all dried and loaded into a cart, and then got it out to, and into, my car.

Good deal!

But that's where it all went wonky.

After I got the cart back into the laundry, I took off too quickly...

and immediately got super dizzy, super fast...

and ended up flat on the concrete.

Fortunately, I immediately had a crowd of people around me, all trying to help, many of them women older than me.

I knew to roll over and onto my knees, so the strong young man who had showed up would actually have a chance at helping me up.

That worked, with me placing my hands on his shoulders and him grabbing me under my arms, me using him to help me stand as he lifted me toward him.

Then Ambar at the laundry brought me some water and I sat at the table outside while a former nurse checked my pulse ("Is it always this low?"; "Yes, I'm on Sotalol.") and I looked at the damage to myself.

Wonder of wonders, only my left arm had been involved, but it's gonna hurt tomorrow.

I've washed it with soap and water, then washed it twice more with saline solution.

It's also spent some time getting chilled to help bring down any swelling.

i thank You, God, that the scrape against the concrete didn't break the skin.

Even so, I'm going to have a monster bruise all over my forearm.

Right now, I have Dermaplast sprayed on it to help soothe it, and it's wrapped lightly in gauze to help give it a bit of protection.

I'm a bit concerned about what the cardiologist is going to say when I see him on Friday morning.

It was to be a simple follow-up appointment to the April 12th cardioversion; now, I have to wonder what he'll do about these dizzy spells.

It isn't like that was the first one I've had on the new anti-arrhythmia drug.

But, usually, I feel them coming on and have time to grab something and just STOP.

And, usually, I know immediately that I took off too fast or stood too fast, so taking a moment to just STOP and stand in place, leaning on something for support, does the trick.

Today, I felt the dizziness coming, but couldn't get to the pillar in time.

i thank You, God, that there were so many around to help me.

Let that be a reminder to myself to t-a-k-e m-y t-i-m-e.

No one expects me to move fast, except me, and I need to get over it.

Sigh.

At least when I got home the oak limbs were no longer scraping at my new roof's Golden Cedar shingles.

Nor were the dead, Spanish-moss clad fingers of the crepe myrtle clawing at the flat surface of the sunroom roof.

Not only that, but the tree man had broken down the branches to the size required by the city for pick up, stacking them nicely down by the street.

Tomorrow, with luck, they'll be hauled off, but I suspect that will actually happen next week.

It's going to take the claw truck to get those up!

Still, what a relief to have that 6-foot to 7-foot canopy over my house, as promised by the tree surgeon.

I do hope he'll come by tomorrow so I can pay him.

(smile!)

And I do hope my left arm will be better than expected tomorrow.

Good thing I have dense bones.