Fear of Flying

[VickiB]

Fear of Flying

But I’m not talking about airlines.

I got to thinking about this yesterday while lying face up on my porch. Neatly stuck, crammed between the cooler which had been propped up there to dry, and some rocks I’ve been collecting for the wall behind the fireplace. As I lay there, taking stock of whether all parts of my body were still intact & functioning, I realized this is happening with more frequency each passing year! I also realized I couldn’t blame it on the snow, -I just plain tripped!

In the ‘old days’, I would loose my footing but with a bit of fancy footwork I could catch my balance. It might even look like I intentionally skipped out of light-heartedness to another passing by. These last few years though, I’m not fooling anyone. But what I find extremely strange is that it seems to happen in slow motion! It seems like its ages between the time I know I’m going down, and the time I actually hit the ground. Lots of time to ponder which part of my body will take the brunt of it, and think about the fact that regardless of how I land, ‘it ain’t gonna be pretty’! It amazes me how many things I can mull over in that ‘falling’ space of time. Anybody else experiencing this same time warp phenomenon? Is this part of getting older? If it is just part of getting older, perhaps aging will be more interesting and even possibly more entertaining than I’d previously thought!

Vicki

[Betsie]

OMG-I just recalled two "falling so slowly" events of my own. A few years ago my neighbor called from their ski home up North. "Could I open the garage door for a delivery"...but of course! In my pajamas (not of the matching variety, just the comfy stuff) I head over with a jacket & walk across a dusty snowfall, bend down pick up the paper and whoooosh...I too am staring at the sky spread eagle in my not so attractive pajamas. I stay very still as i try to picture who in the neighborhood saw me go down and also to wait for the little birdies to leave that swirl around my head. Ouch....very smooth walk home. :biglaugh:

Fast forward two years and bones a tad less sympathetic. I look out at the end of a very large snowfall for my husband...I finally realize I can't find him due to the fact he has fallen with the snowblower on our steep driveway and is laying down tugging on this monster machine. I in my infinite wisdom put on clogs with no socks to "save" him. He tells me to get in the house and just as he yells, I go down the driveway, like I am on a black diamond hill (I have never skiied in my life) and FLY on my ski clogs to the bottom, quite good form I must say. I get to the bottom, feet up in the air, tush, tailbone and head smack down on the pavement and land spread eagled again, this time so stunned that getting up would be a true event. It is during this gazing at the stars I notice my neighbor backing out of her driveway and I am in her path in the cul-de-sac. She finally spots me, gets out of the car and trying very hard to stop laughing goes and gets a bag of sand for us to use to get back up our driveway....Is this an age thing? I can't be sure, but one thing I do know is I have a fear of falling that far surpasses the fear of flying....the flying isn't so bad...it's the landing I need some work on. :help:

Thanks for the memory and the reminder that the dreaded winter is knocking at the door...we'll leave age out of this. ;)

[Annie2]

I'm with both of you on this one! I've had far more than my fair share of times "flying through the air" and landing, oh so ungracefully! When younger, I skied often and had some mighty falls but understood those. Now, I can be walking on level ground, hit a patch of ice, and whoosh...I'm flying again. And you're right, Vikki. The time between going airborn and landing seems longer every time. There is plenty of time to go through a whole litany of possible injuries before I hit the ground.

About 6 or 7 years ago I pulled a good one. It was the middle of summer so there was no ice. Actually, it was on the 4th of July. We had gone to watch fireworks. We climbed up a fairly steep levy and sat at the edge of the river to watch the beautiful fireworks display on the other side of the river. Afterwards, we had to walk back down that levy and across to a level area where many cars were parked. It was dark and the grass had become covered with dew. My hubby helped my cousin who was with us down the levy and told me to wait and he'd come back and help me since I was just wearing slippery sandals. Well, I thought I could handle that (ha!), I figured I would walk at an angle to the hill and traverse downward at a shallow angle...just like skiing a steep slope. Two steps into my attempt I flew into the air, did a barrel roll, bounced and was in the air again......and again...and again..all the way down the hill. I could hear people yelling for help for me and even saw my hubby running towards me. My brain was quite active the entire trip down and it seemed to take forever to get to the bottom. We had a Chevy Tahoe at the time. There is an old song that in the lyrics says "drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry". I distinctly remember my silly mind kept repeating those lyrics the entire time. With every bounce I tried to stop myself but to no avail. I knew I was approaching the parked cars and was worried I would fly into one. My hubby, fortunately, got between a parked car (with a large trailer hitch just above ground level) and caught me after my last bounce before I hit that obstacle. Now, there were hundreds of people on that levy watching the fireworks and they all witnessed this circus act of mine. I was SO HUMILIATED! I remember a huge crowd gathered around me and all I could say was "I'm fine...please go away"! After determining I had no serious injuries, my hubby picked me up, put me in our Tahoe and we laughed all the way home! Ok, I did have to go to the hospital the next day for x-rays because I did have a foot I couldn't stand on. I was covered in bruises, however, and the doctors did want an explanation. Talk about embarassed! One little fracture but no serious injuries, thankfully, other than to my ego! :biglaugh:

Annie

[vm]

A week or two ago I slipped walking down the basement steps. I had that time warp sensation where a lot of thoughts ran through my head --- particularly, "Dang! These shoes are slippery!!!" :lmao:

I later found out some generic Armor All had fallen off of a shelf above the steps and basically coated those steps up real good! I totally busted my butt and had a nice long, nasty looking bruise across one butt cheek to show for it. It was just the shape of the edge of a step! :lmao:

[ICNDonna]

I have (should say "had") a step stool with a round top. Last summer I was standing on top of the stool in my kitchen with a paint brush in hand --- I started to get down to move the stool and stepped down on the side with no steps. I remember falling, but most of all, I remember laying there, almost afraid to move, wondering what was broken! Basically all I did was cover one side of my body with bruises. Also bruised my checking account purchasing a new step stool that even has a rail to hold when I'm climbing up and down!

I used to fall and immediately jump up and go on --- now I seem to think I have to lay there and assess the damage before I move. Somewhere I have a copy of a poem with a last line that says, "Getting old is pigeon poop." I totally agree.

:)
Donna