Thorns

So...I don't really even want to post about this, but Chad has insisted that it is something we want to remember. So, here goes. Yesterday morning, I walked out on our back porch/balcony to trim my nails. We have a really strange sliding door. You have to push this button in to pull the handle down to open it and then you have to pull really hard to get it open. To shut it, you have to push the button in again. I'd noticed that there wasn't a handle on the outside, but I didn't think that it could be locked without pushing in the button. But, I wasn't sure. Because it was cold outside, I didn't want to leave the door all the way open, so I started pushing it closed attempting to leave it open just a couple of inches, but as I was slowly trying to shut it, it all of a sudden caught and slammed all the way shut! I was locked out! I knocked on the door to get Lexi to come over, but I knew that she wouldn’t be able to help. The door is difficult even for me to open. I was trying to get her to hang on the handle, hoping she’d be able to pull it down enough so that I might be able to slide the door open, but she’s such a lightweight, she couldn’t get it to budge. By then, she’s crying and upset that I’m outside and can’t get in. So, I realized I was going to have to climb down. Luckily we are on the bottom level, but our porch is still about 6 feet off the ground and our balcony is surrounded by bushes, so to jump down I would have had to jump out about 3 feet to clear the bushes and then land around 6 feet on the ground. To many people this would have been no big deal, but it was not doable for me. I have serious problems with my bad ankle and have been told not to jump from any height onto it. So, the thought of me jumping and reinjuring my foot was not appealing. I wasn’t sure if I would have any other option, but then I realized up against the side of the porch, behind all the bushes was a rickety old shelf. Without any hesitation, I shimmied over the side of the porch and lowered myself down onto the shelf. I was immediately concerned that the shelf would just tip over or fall apart on me. But, luckily it held and I was able to get on the ground. Then, I realized my next obstacle. I was trapped behind the bushes and they were full of thorns! The bushes are so thick, I was literally pushed right up against the side of the building and I couldn’t move side to side at all without getting tangled in them. I decided I would have to climb through them at the bottom. I bent down to get on my hands and knees which resulted in a burst of pain when I realized that the ground was covered in a thick layer of fallen thorns. What to do?!? Looking back, I’m so glad I had my shoes on and a hoodie. I really had no other options, so I gritted my teeth and knelt back on the ground and pushed my way through the 1 ½ foot opening along the ground and then I was free! I ran around back to the front of the building where Lexi was able to let me back into the apartment. I immediately went to shower and to survey the damage. My hands and legs were covered with little slivers from the thorns. After pulling then all out, I spent the rest of the day just hanging around because my legs and hands were on fire. They feel much better today, with the exception of a few tender spots, but they look awful. The picture doesn’t really even show how bad they look. I hope that tomorrow all the little spots will start to clear up. Anyway, that took me a really long time to retell. What frustrates me the most is knowing that if Chad had been the one to get locked out, he would have just jumped over the balcony in about 2 seconds and probably never even told me about it.