I've been reading this and I've woken up gripped in the pains of regret many times. Mostly due to being an uncoordinated spaz, not from attempting physical endeavors beyond my limited abilities as a person with a small frame and several previous injuries that persist in being painful. I usually work in repeated minor efforts vs. trying to even pretend there's going to be any acts of brute strength.
But Saturday... it was limb-pulling day. Sounds weird, and it is. DH cut down a mimosa tree but, as I knew from trying to kill one for years by constant defoliation, that didn't kill it. Not even close. It keeps sprouting a ton of branches at the top of the cut like a truffula tree. It's in the back yard where only we can see it, not a visual problem since it still just blends in with tons of other tree mass, and DH offered to get more aggressive with some kind of poison but I said just let it go until I get sick of harvesting the organic matter it produces in such great amounts so quickly. The top is about eye level, and eventually it will be a plant stand and hanging pot support...
But back to Saturday, it was time to yank the latest batch of branches off of the trunk, but I'd let them get quite a bit bigger and much more force was required to snap them off. To get the needed leverage, I put one foot on the trunk and was yanking the branches toward the ground... and lost my balance in slo-mo! The initial force was sending me straight back but my mind screamed "plants there!" So I managed to throw myself back toward the trunk, but sideways, and still on 1 foot. I grabbed the trunk at a funky angle and slid in a slow but unstoppable spiral down the trunk & landed - YES! - NOT on an important plant. I didn't realize I was even scratched at all until I was sure I didn't have an unplanned propagational emergency to attend to.
Luckily nothing hurts internally & some scratches on my hands, arms & legs are minor. Nobody saw it, that's the only sad part. It deserved a huge laugh! Especially for those who know me well enough to notice how I was checking the plants when & as I was picking myself back up.
