Black Ice

It snowed again yesterday. So I went out for a walk to revel in the peace and beauty of it. A quiet hour spent reflecting to close out the year. It was quite cold and windy, so the snow was fluffy but still stung as it hit my face.

As I began my walk I noticed some footprints from someone who had traveled my path sometime earlier. The snow was erasing the evidence of my fellow reveler, but I could still make out their wanderings from side to side across the closed-for-winter road. I wondered what had caught their attention, as mine was caught by the patterns in the ice forming on the wetlands or the texture of the water as it flowed downstream in the river.

The road curves sharply to the left not too far from the parking lot. I discerned something strange about the fading footprints. A large patch of disturbed snow, sort of swooshed around. "What caused that?" I mused as zoop! my foot slid out from under me. I caught myself. Ice. Ah, there's ice under this snow.

Then as I took my next step I remembered the black ice that forms on that corner. Water runs off the hillside and across the road to the river. The hill, covered with trees, is to the south of the road there, and the shadiness protects whatever ice does form. Splot! With my mind elsewhere I never considered that I would still be on that black ice, now covered in an inch of dry snow, making it about as slippery as things get.

I instinctively reached out with my right arm and landed in a sort of side-plank. After righting myself and carefully navigating my way off this hazardous stretch, I appreciated my body. I am grateful for being young, strong and resilient, for having quick reflexes and sturdy bones. It's easy to see how a slip like that could break an arm or hip, or cause a head injury. Phew!

Later I noticed my shoulder was achy from absorbing the impact. Today my left waist has been complaining. Apparently those muscles were involved in my saving as well. And I guess that's how life is sometimes. Events and circumstances surprise us, throw us off balance, even knock us down. What we walk away with depends on our reactions and our resilience. But no mater what we think, we will be far more affected than we first realize.