Some Days Just Suck....

Some days just start off bad and get progressively worse. Today, Sunday 29 June 2008 was one of those days without exception. After over sleeping and missing talking to her before she went to sleep I decided to go to the supermarket to get a few things, little did I know I should have shook off that idea and just stayed home. I had already had that feeling that it was going to be a bad day, you know the feeling, it seems to creep up the back of your head and you just have that feeling that something is going to go wrong. Well, something going wrong is mild and a bit of an understatement to say the least.

Anyway, I got in my car and headed off to the supermarket thinking I would not be gone very long, an hour at the most. Everything seemed to go fine and it did not take me long to get the things I needed. I loaded them up in the car and headed home, so far so good. One thing, I live in the middle of nowhere, the closest town to me is almost 30 miles in either direction. I opted for the rural life about 20 years ago and for the most part it seemed to suit me well. I mean I had more peace and quiet than I could hope for. No freeway or road traffic, no honking horns, no chasing errant kick balls for the kids in the yard next door, no baseballs shattering windows from the street games, no violence or crime. I thought I was in paradise, but I guess that too has its price. I had my own garden, grew fresh vegetables, beautiful flowerbeds and I had a quiet that I have not remembered since I was a child. I should have known that it would not last forever.

As I started home, everything seemed to be okay, the day was getting on and it was a typical summer day in Texas, the heat was getting up there and soon it would hit triple digits as the sun climbed higher in the sky. Funny, I thought to myself I would hate to be out in it. There was no warning, nothing to indicate that anything was wrong. Clipping along at about 60 mph I glanced down at the dashboard when I noticed the check engine light start to flicker and other warning lights doing the same, check oil, check fuel, check seat belts, every light on the dashboard seemed to start blinking on and off at once and soon the car just died. I could not imagine what wen wrong. Still not really worried about it, I cruised to a stop on the shoulder of the road thinking to myself that once I stop I would be able to restart it and get on my way. I turned the key and nothing, not even the starter turning over. I hot the ignition time and time again, still nothing, not even the indicator lights on the dash coming on doing the normal system checks. I rolled the window down and thought to myself, "Crap, this is all I need." I popped the hood and checked the various things everyone does thinking it would be something simple, a loose battery cable, clogged fuel live and loose vacuum line. Everything seem to be in place. I tapped on various little black boxes that hold relays thinking one was stuck or maybe trying to get one of the sensors or computer chips that monitored and regulated the various components that made this marvel of the 21st century to get from point A to point B in relative comfort reset itself so I could get home and put my groceries away. Sitting back in the driver's seat I tried again, still nothing. Now it was just another hunk of recyclable metal sitting on the side of the road.

I didn't have my cell phone with me, if I did, it would not have done me much good anyway, I did not activate the service when I was given my new phone as I felt I didn't need it. Soon I would be leaving and it did not sound feesable at the time to activate it. Thinking to myself how stupid I was not to do it I set my resolve and thought I better get to walking before it got too hot. A mistake if ever I made one, not knowing that at the time though. What can be so hard about putting one foot in front of the other, I have been doing it all my life and found it just as easy as putting my foot in my mouth as I often do and thinking that this walk home would be easy is testament to the fact I am adept at inserting my foot in my mouth. It started off well enough, a slight breeze from the northwest, sun not too high and it seemed fairly tolerable. First hour passed and I still had a spring to my step and I continued to walk, think about things, I thought this walk would do me some good, will help me clear my head without disturbance and get some things sorted out. Second hour passed. breeze had died and and I could feel the heat from the asphalt through the soles of mt sandals and creep up my legs. My shirt was soaked and the sun started bearing down on me as if I were under a magnifying glass. Sweat poured from my brow and trickled down my face stinging my eyes. I continued to walk although that spring to my step had turned to a lethargic foot drag, but still I kept walking.

When the third hour had passed I knew then I was in trouble and my decision I made to walk a major mistake, regrettable to say the least but unable to change it I pushed myself at this point to keep moving, actually afraid to stop for fear of not getting back up and continuing. My skin on my arms hurt to touch them, my face was burned and my feet ached, my legs throbbed. My fingers were swollen and I could feel dehydration setting in. It got to the point I thought I was going to collapse, but still I pushed myself. Going into the forth hour I could not feel the heat any longer and I was basically numb all over, exhausted and extremely tired I dragged my feet one step after another. I had stopped perspiring and even to me the touch of my skin felt hot. I knew all about heat strokes being from Texas and where triple digit temperatures were the norm for this time of the year. But the stubbornness that seemed so much a part of my character kept pushing me and like an idiot, I kept walking.

I finally passed my mailbox at the gate and started the quarter mile walk to my door. I honestly think if it had not been downhill I would not have made to my house, at that point it was only momentum that kept my feet plodding along. I felt like one of those Cracker Jack toys I used to get with the little walking man attached to a long string with the weight on the end. When you set the weight off the edge of a table the pulling force started the legs to moving and the little guy walked across the table until he was pulled over the edge. I was close to that edge when I finally opened my door. I collapsed in my recliner, too weak to go any further, my chest heaving, my body starting to ache. Little did I know that was the least of my problems. I drug myself into the kitchen to get some cool water. no sooner had I got it down, it came right back up. I got a cool rag and put some ice in it and set back down in my recliner, too exhausted to close my eyes. After an hour or so I tried to take down more water, this time it stayed down. I set back down and decided to see what damage I may have caused to myself for the stupid decision I had made to walk. My lips were cracked and bleeding and as I took off my sandals I noticed the bottom of my feet were covered in blisters. Most had filled with blood by this time. On the back of my left foot above my heal was a blood blister about 3 inches long and an inch and a half wide, there are blisters on the tops of my toes, between my toes and on the tips. My feet were in pain now that I started surveying them. All I could think of was how stupid I was to think I could walk over twenty miles home. Maybe when I was much younger, yes, but now at 53 it was one of the stupidest things I think I could have ever done. I can't even stand on them, walk without grimacing from the extreme pain shooting through them. My legs ached as if something was stretching my muscles to their limit, as if being on the rack and being ripped away from the bone. "Stupid idiot." I thought to myself.

I have made a lot stupid decisions in my life, that I will admit, but this one was the icing on the cake, the cherry on the sundae, the coup de grais of all stupid decisions. Well it is behind me now, but today I am still reminded of my decision as I am sure for many days to come. I am happy now that I am selling this place and getting far away from it. I don't think I could survive something like that again. Soon nothing more than a painful memory and a lesson learned the hard way. I guess I should go and soak myself again in a hot tub and see if the pain in my legs will ease up any. Close my eyes as I relax there and think of that tomorrow soon to come when all of this will be behind me and I am where I am supposed to be.

Later...