Kristy Hanson

So, today we slept in late and decided to go get some brunch around noon. We were walking, and we passed this sidewalk cafe. There’s not really room enough on the main sidewalk, so I stepped on to this cracked square of gravelly pavement that surrounds a tree on the edge of the sidewalk. Word to the wise–don’t do that. For some reason the combo of bad traction on my shoes and the slant and surface of the pavement resulted in my rolling over my ankle, sliding and eventually totally falling onto my left knee on the sidewalk. It was so weird, it was like I just kept tumbling forward, and next thing I knew I was on my ass with everyone around me going, “whoa, that was a bad fall.”

I stood up fairly quickly (probably not a good idea) and the pain and nausea set in. Maybe it was because I hadn’t eaten, or stood up too fast, or whatever, but I said to Mike, “I think I’m going to pass out,” and instead of sitting down, I put my arms around his neck. And then, at least I’m told, I proceeded to pass out and slide through his arms like a sack of potatoes. A very sweet guy sitting at the cafe helped him put me in a chair and the next thing I knew I was waking up as if from a dream in a plastic chair in the middle of the sidewalk and a bunch of people were saying things like, “wow, that really scared me.” And his little boy was going, “you fell hard…rocks can hurt you…”

At home, I surveyed the damage…there was pain in my left knee and right ankle (nice. I managed to mess up BOTH legs) and my neck and wrist. A lot of the paid has subsided now (thank you, Advil), but I’m a bit swollen and bruised. I don’t think I broke anything, but we’ll see how I feel. At this point, I’m out of it but am mostly just amused by how klutzy I am – and what a huge drama I created just by walking –or attempting to walk–down the damn sidewalk!

My day was so long and weird that I don’t really know where to start. But there’s this one image that sticks with me and I thought I would share–I haven’t been keeping all of you up to date on the ‘characters’ of my life as much these days, so it’s overdue.

This morning, I passed a man who seemed to be just waking up, lying in the crevice between the parking garage at Hope and 8th and the next building. Clearly, it’s his spot. He was shirtless (yikes!), covered in a colorful quilt, and reading a newspaper. All that was missing was a steaming cup of coffee (which he may have had, for all I know, I was trying not to look). It was literally like suddenly walking directly from the sidewalk into someone’s bedroom; like you want to say, “oh, sorry, um, I thought everyone was decent in here…”

For the record, I actually wrote this blog on Wednesday, Sept. 6, and MySpace was being strange so I couldn’t post it. It tells you something about the last week and half I’ve had that I didn’t have time to post it until now. But I’ll leave it at that for the moment, cause I don’t even want to get into it.

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Is the moon full tonight? I think so, or it’s close.

I’ve been feeling like I want to blog but have had nothing to say–then the coyotes started howling outside and inspired me. The sound is a nice little bookend to our time here at this house, because we heard a whole pack of them the first night we stayed here. They are saying goodbye, I think.

Now we’ve moved to our new apartment, more or less, and tonight will be our first official night there. Mike and I went outside to the patio (still at the house) when he heard the coyotes, and there’s clearly a whole pack of them across the canyon, walking down the mountain but still out of sight. The sound that I first found eerie I now find kind of funny–when one yips, then howls, the rest do right afterward in a chorus, and the perfectly synchronized waves of howling make me giggle.

One coyote on its own would still scare the crap out of me if I encountered one walking down the street (a possibility), but they really look scraggly and kind of harmless, usually. When I picture a whole pack of coyotes, I picture them faux-tough, only strong and full of bravado when they’re all together–like they’re a West Side Story-type gang or something. When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way…

I am happy we replaced real gangs (and not the dancing, singing kind) with gangs of coyotes. Our new place is, while certainly not an architectural gem like this one, just down the road, and it has a pool. Actually, it feels a little fancy, even though it’s our standard one-bedroom. It’s a lot bigger than our last place, more like the one in GR, which means we can finally get another bookcase, my parents and I even bought a little chair for the living room this weekend, and I will actually be able to, I don’t know, move the coffee table over and do an exercise video or something. Crunch cardio dance anyone? Work it!

Oh, it’s the little things…

I’m feeling overwhelmed with gratitude and suddenly nostalgic–it’s been quite an up and down few months, but I feel like I’ve been rescued from the downs by such incredible kindness at every turn. It almost doesn’t seem fair, in a way. All I can do is be grateful and hope that I can repay such kindness to someone else somewhere down the line.
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And as an addendum, Mike and I actually saw three of those coyotes on our way to the new apartment, just walking down the sidewalk. It’s so strange to see these animals that are totally wild and running free but from a distance could just be German Shepherds. I mean really. Coyotes? Sometimes I can’t believe we live here…:)