We went out on a lovely family outing today…our first ever fall visit to the Chicago Botanic Gardens. Today, our first stop was in the Waterfall Garden. As we climbed up and down a series of uneven stone stairways, I made sure to point out to my son that he needed to be careful, pay attention to his steps, and use the handrail when provided. I must admit…I breathed a sigh of relief when we were through the Waterfall Garden without even a single close call. After that, I let my guard down. There were far fewer safety hazards in the other gardens that we visited.
We were maybe 30 or 45 minutes into our stroll, and had yet to see anywhere near the amount of fall foliage that I had come for. Tommy and I climbed another precarious set of uneven stone steps and took a rest to wait for Anna and my husband. When they had caught up with us, Tommy, Anna and myself headed back down the steps to return to the main path. Tommy took off first, leaving Anna and I to make our way down slowly. I was thinking that this was one set of steps that could really stand to have a handrail. I was just about to tell Anna to be more careful, when she reached the bottom…and not a moment too soon. With my next step, I must have put my foot down crooked. My ankle gave out and I came tumbling down the last few steps. When my stumbling and tumbling finally came to a halt, I was on the far side of the main path and could not put any weight at all on my left ankle.
Now, recall I had headed out on this excursion for views and photos of fabulous fall photography. I’m stubborn…very stubborn. I hobbled around for at least another hour, with my husband as a crutch, enjoying the foliage that I came to see. Hopefully I’ll get to share some of my photos later in the week.
So…here I sit with my foot in the air under a bag of ice. It’s ugly and swollen. Way to go mommy!
The Tangled Web I Weave 