Ice

One of the differences between Utah and Arizona involves the weather.  Shocking, I know.  In Utah, or at least here in Provo, they have this wierd phenomenon where white stuff falls from the sky, and where water freezes on the ground, and where my hands turn red, stiff and dry if left unexposed.  In Mesa, you just don't see stuff like that.  Instead you see citrus blossoms fall from the trees, water mixes with dirt and turns to mud, and my hands exist in a quite content state of unmentionable-ness.  So I'm having a hard time adjusting to this winter thing.  One would think that after six Utah winters I would adapt.  But no.  There have been 15 days in the year 2009.  I have slipped on the ice and fallen down 5 times.  That is an average of once every three days, which exceeds twice a week.  My best fall was yesterday.  Characteristics of a good fall include the following:  1.) There are witnesses.  2.) It looks incredibly awkward.  3.) It leaves a mark.  And 4.) I fall completely.  It isn't sufficient to begin to fall and then catch myself or hold on some external object for support.  If that counted, my slip count would be exponentially higher.  

Yesterday's fall consisted of my slipping less-than-gracefully on a mass of ice in a parking lot.  I had my hands in jacket pocket at the same time that clumbsiness and gravity simultaneously seized me.  I found myself falling forward.  And tried to catch myself by putting my hands in front of me to shield my from impact with the frozen ground.  Unfortunately, my hands didn't come out of my pockets so well.  So it kind of looked like my arms were wings like unto those that a young child would create when taunting someone with a bad chicken impersonation.  So I landed face-down, chicken wing elbows on either side of my head, sort of kneeling with my bum in the air.  I now have a scab forming on my left ankle, a multi-colored bruise on my left knee, and slight scrape on the left side of my left hand, just below the pinkie knuckle.  My roommates can testify of the awesomeness of my fall and landing position.  And that is one of the reasons that I both love Utah and miss Arizona.