On Monday, my friend D. and I climbed a little mountain. "I've done this hike before," I said, "in the winter last year."
Hiking through the trees near the bottom of the mountain, I suddenly said, "In fact, I think I climbed this mountain on this exact day last year." I checked when I got home, and yes, I had.
It was colder and windier this time. Several times we had to stop and brace ourselves against the wind. A few times we even fell against the cables that some kind person had installed at just the exact points where the wind hits hardest. We clung to them and turned our backs to the wind and laughed.
We didn't plan to make it to the top. The car had been virtually oil-free when we got to the parking lot, which we discovered quite by accident. We managed to refill it with oil from a random guy who had extra oil in his truck (love guys, they are so prepared and useful), but we were planning to head back early to deal with the possible engine damage situation. Every few minutes, particularly when the wind caught us, we would say, "What do you think?" and debate turning back, but then suddenly the top was in view, and it seemed silly to stop.
It was too cold on the top to eat, too cloudy to take pictures. We stood for a few minutes looking out at the water and the mountains, and then we turned around and went down. We raced faster and faster, trying to stave off the cold that hit us on the easy downhill.
...
I slammed my knee against my desk this morning. Someone said, "Don't you sit there every day? You'd think you would know better by now."
Hopping on one leg, clutching my knee, I gasped, "Ow. Drawer. Accidentally left partway open. Owwww."
My knee was bruised by the time I pulled my trouser leg up to investigate the damage.
...
At the doctor's office, the nurse told me to sit in the waiting room for 15 minutes after my H1N1 vaccine.
"Why?" I asked.
"In case you have a reaction."
"Um," I said, "Is that completely necessary?"
"Well, I am required to tell you that," she said, "but we can't make you."
"Good," I said, "because I've never had a reaction to any vaccine."
On the train on the way back to work, I kept wondering, Am I short of breath now? Am I going to pass out? Is a severe reaction going to be payback for my flouting of medical advice?
I was fine.
Hiking through the trees near the bottom of the mountain, I suddenly said, "In fact, I think I climbed this mountain on this exact day last year." I checked when I got home, and yes, I had.
It was colder and windier this time. Several times we had to stop and brace ourselves against the wind. A few times we even fell against the cables that some kind person had installed at just the exact points where the wind hits hardest. We clung to them and turned our backs to the wind and laughed.
We didn't plan to make it to the top. The car had been virtually oil-free when we got to the parking lot, which we discovered quite by accident. We managed to refill it with oil from a random guy who had extra oil in his truck (love guys, they are so prepared and useful), but we were planning to head back early to deal with the possible engine damage situation. Every few minutes, particularly when the wind caught us, we would say, "What do you think?" and debate turning back, but then suddenly the top was in view, and it seemed silly to stop.
It was too cold on the top to eat, too cloudy to take pictures. We stood for a few minutes looking out at the water and the mountains, and then we turned around and went down. We raced faster and faster, trying to stave off the cold that hit us on the easy downhill.
...
I slammed my knee against my desk this morning. Someone said, "Don't you sit there every day? You'd think you would know better by now."
Hopping on one leg, clutching my knee, I gasped, "Ow. Drawer. Accidentally left partway open. Owwww."
My knee was bruised by the time I pulled my trouser leg up to investigate the damage.
...
At the doctor's office, the nurse told me to sit in the waiting room for 15 minutes after my H1N1 vaccine.
"Why?" I asked.
"In case you have a reaction."
"Um," I said, "Is that completely necessary?"
"Well, I am required to tell you that," she said, "but we can't make you."
"Good," I said, "because I've never had a reaction to any vaccine."
On the train on the way back to work, I kept wondering, Am I short of breath now? Am I going to pass out? Is a severe reaction going to be payback for my flouting of medical advice?
I was fine.
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