Rambling

Okay, today I thought I'd ramble a bit. It snowed today and there was ice on my walkway. This got me to thinking about the two times I've fallen on the ice.

What does it mean when it snows in April anyway? I know April showers mean flowers in the subsequent month, but snow? What rhymes with snow?

So we can have April showers bring May flowers.
April rain is sure a pain.
April snow, looks like blow (snow is a euphemism for cocaine...so is blow)
April ice isn't very nice.
April snow you'll freeze your toe.
April snow makes flowers not grow.

This is a stupid exercise...sorry, I'll stop.

In other news today is a big day in Mormondom. April 6th is the day the church was founded. That's 180 years today. Also, today is Jesus' real birthday. So, Happy Birthday Jesus!

Side note:
Given that the year zero is in fact the correct year for Christ's birth (which we know it's not, but it's the best we got), then Christ is 2030 today (going by the day he was embodied). Actually, maybe he'll be 2030 in 3 days. I don't know if we count the time he administered to the spirits in prison. He was dead then, so does that count toward his total age (cause it's time since he was born) or do we go with actual days lived? I've never tried to calculate the age of a resurrected being before. Well, I'm sure this line of thinking isn't very important.

So, as I mentioned earlier, in honor of the strange weather, here are the two times I've fallen on ice:

Those that know me know I'm light on my feet (always nice to start a paragraph complimenting yourself)....for this reason I have spent many years on the snow, but I've only fallen twice. I've almost fallen many times, but I was always able to balance myself with my cat-like reflexes before tragedy beat me into the snow.

Fall 1:

On my mission I bought new boots that boasted "improved ice traction." I figured I'd put my new boots on and try them out on completely frozen driveway. I ran and stopped on a dime....just kidding. I guess iceboots (as I imagined them) don't exist. I slid for about 5 feet, trying to balance, comically overcompensating both ways and never quite getting it right, and then my feet flew forward (and out from under me), and I fell flat on my but. I don't think there can be dignity in such a situation. Sitting on your but on ice after you fall is just flat out degrading. People can laugh at you and you must admit their laughter is just.

Second fall was after I dropped a girl off. This was a girl who was going on a mission. We'd gone on a few dates, but I mostly thought of her as a friend (partly because I knew she was going on a mission). We had dinner together and we started driving back. It was a wonderful conversation. It was one of those few conversations you have in a lifetime when you really just connect with someone, and you feel comfortable, accepted, understood....it's a great feeling. I think these sorts of conversations happen more frequently around huge events, like a close friend or family member moving away or the death of a friend.

Anyway, after a while I realized we had been driving for a long time and I figured we should be at her house by now. I asked her how close we were and she said "we're taking the long way, the really long way." She'd given me what she said was a shortcut so our conversation would go on for longer. I thought that was really sweet, and it was nice to know she was enjoying the conversation as much as I was.

Everything was perfect, it was bittersweet, but perfect. I was excited for her to go on a mission cause I knew she'd be a great missionary, but I knew I'd miss her too. But I felt at peace with the whole thing. We came to her house and I walked her to the door. We talked on the doorstep for a while longer, and then I said I better go. Since we'd talked for so long, my goodbye had become a visit, and she offered to walk me to my car. I walked three steps down the driveway, saw a puddle and started to jump....and then all of sudden there was no air in my lungs... I actually fell forward. There was a patch of ice I hadn't seen, and I was trying to jump over a puddle, so I pushed off with my foot, but that foot slipped straight back with no traction and I went face first into the puddle. It really hurt! But my pride hurt even worse.

So, this wonderful friend who was leaving on a mission now and the last image she has of me was me falling on my face into a puddle on her driveway. She asked if I was okay with concern in her voice. I said "yeah, only my pride was injured."

Once she knew I was okay she started laughing at me. I appreciated her consideration in at least making sure I wasn't injured before laughing at me.

That's how I said goodbye. I'm really cool.

Anyway, those are my two falls. I hope you all have a great day, if you're in Provo, kiss winter goodbye, cause I'm sure after this freeze spring will get it's act together.