Oh, My Achin' Foot!

I hurt my foot the other day,
Now it's all black and blue.
It was because of something stupid
That I knew I shouldn't do.

I was working in the attic
Where it was nice and warm,
Stapling up some insulation
And doing no one harm.

When I came upon a place
Right beside the open door
Where the ladder came right up
From below there on the floor.

I placed a board across the opening,
Just a place on which to stand,
As I hung the insulation
On the wall that was at hand.

And as I was reaching upward
Just as high as I could see
The board I'd placed down under
Seemed no longer to hold me.

And I came crashing down
Where my foot hit on the ladder
While the rest of me fell farther
But, it could have been much badder

For as I was passing through
The hole from which I fell
Both arms caught chunks of lumber
And now don't feel too well.

I guess I should be thankful
For the ladder that was there
'Cause it cushioned me while falling
Through about eight feet of air.

But, now I have to fix it
'Cause I guess I'm gaining weight
And the place wheron I hit it
Is now in a broken state.

And my foot just keeps on hurting
Though the swelling has gone down
And I'm too cheap to get it checked
By the doctor here in town.

So, I guess I'll quit complainin'
And hope the pain just goes away
'Cause every time I do I hear,
"Go and get an X-ray!"

Miles and Miles

"I saw miles and miles of Texas...."

Yep, another day of driving.  From Canyon to Shreveport dragging a trailer at 60 mph.  It was a long day and still about 5 hours from our destination.

It was a nice, cool morning when we left.  Most of the day though, we saw the temperature hover between 103 and 106.  The northern part of Texas is dry.  I didn't see much in the way of green grass anywhere.  Oh, there were occasional spots where water had collected in a low spot that had enough moisture to be a little green, but, in general, it was bad even in East Texas.

There are burns all across the state.  In fact, this afternoon the traffic was backed up several miles on I-30 due to grass fires east of Longview.  They were fairly well contained to the roadside, but, if the wind had been blowing like it does in West Texas, a lot of timber would have gone up in smoke!  There were close to a dozen fire-fighting vehicles working to contain it.

I sure hope tomorrow is cooler since we will be unloading the trailer.  I guess a little sweat cleanses the pores.....

Chris

Moody Recreational Writer

Sometimes writing just requires the right frame of mind.  It's not so much sitting down in front of a blank piece of paper -- uh, blank computer screen -- and experiencing that feeling that is often described as writer's block, it's more a matter of mental relaxation for me.  I'm sure that professional writer's occasionally struggle with getting going but, it's their job, they sometimes just "force" it to happen.  With us non-professionals (recreational writer might be a good term) it is more about being in the mood to write.

I haven't been there in a few weeks.

I suppose that might be obvious to those who follow this blog because I haven't written anything in awhile.  At first I blamed it on my travel schedule, but, that hasn't really stopped me in the past.  Then I blamed it on too much work load from my real job, but, really, it isn't much different than normal.  Then, of course, I used the usual excuse of "nothing" to write about (yeah, I know, it should say -- "nothing" about which to write) but, that's not true either.  I could write about a pen lying on my desk if I chose.  No, it's just that I haven't felt like it.

So, being the analytical sort that I am, I try to figure out why.  No luck.  I just haven't felt like it.  Oh, well.  Maybe this random post will break the logjam and get me back in the mode, er, mood, er, whatever.

Chris