Out of the Blue

Accidents can happen when you least expect them. Is that one of Murphy's Laws? Before coming to Costa Rica, I worried a little about what might happen if one of us got sick or was injured. Our medical insurance does not work here, which is one consideration. Another is the possibility that this wonderful trip could be cut short. The even grimmer possibilities I won't even mention here.

Well, yesterday I had an accident. I had been lounging by the pool. It was hot but I was in the shade. After a while, I got thirsty and decided to go inside. I gathered my towel and iPad and headed along the cement walkway towards our condo. I turned a corner and started across a grate and up a slight incline, and before I knew it, I was falling backwards, landing on my left side - arm, hip, and leg - with a thump. My head was just inches from the concrete wall of the spa pool.

Immediately, several people who had seen me fall gathered around me. "Are you hurt?" "Is anything broken?" Well, yes, I was hurt, but no, nothing was broken - thank god! I got scrapes on my left elbow and hand, and my left hip, butt, and leg all ached (and still do). But as one woman said, "You are lucky. You could have hit your head on the concrete and gotten a concussion, or worse." I was also lucky that the iPad, which also landed on the concrete, was not broken.

Yes, I am lucky and I am filled with gratitude. It might have made an interesting story if I had been taken away by ambulance and brought to some local clinic or faraway city hospital. But this is a story I hope I never have to tell, about myself or Bob!

I am puzzled by what caused the fall. The pavement was not wet or slippery, and I had walked this way many times before. I didn't slip, and I didn't lose consciousness, but somehow I was upright one moment and on the ground the next. It was as if I had fainted, but I never lost consciousness, not even for a second. One woman thought that perhaps I got up from the chair too quickly in the heat and got dizzy or lightheaded. Perhaps that was it.

After a few minutes, in which I got over the shock of the fall and made sure that nothing was broken, I got up and completed my walk to the condo. Inside, Bob was working on a computer project and had not heard or seen any of the commotion. But once I told him what had happened, he was there for me in every way - a bastion of consideration, care, and comfort. So, yes, I am lucky in this way too - to have such a wonderful companion on this adventure. La Pura Vida!