Face Skiing?

I searched the makeshift parking lot for an old red pickup truck as I crunched through the snow, picking my way carefully over the uneven ground, but I didn't see any.  It was silly to look, anyway, I reasoned with myself sternly.  Garth wasn't going to be here, and even if he was what would I say to him? 

He had brought me and the kids up to the gravel pits twice the winter we met, and we had such a good time.  It was a favorite place for people from the Valley to come play in the snow because of the huge sledding hill and easy access from the main highway.  Today, like the other times we had been here, the gravel  parking lot was crowded with cars, and I had hoped just a tiny bit that I might see Garth, but I was disappointed.

My sister and her husband had joined me and the kids for a day in the snow this Saturday, driving up in our new Astro-Van.  I still wasn't sure I liked the new car, I had really loved my little red station wagon, but a few months earlier Sheldon had insisted on giving me this mini-van to drive.  It wasn't new.  He had bought it along with a couple of other cars for the printing business he had started, and he insisted it would be safer to drive the kids around in.  Personally, I figured he was using it as a tax write -off, but it was big and in good shape, and although it was not nearly as pretty as my old red station wagon, it wouldn't break down as often. 

When we got to the gravel pits I'd looked for Garth's truck, but hadn't seen it.  We'd spent the morning sledding, and I had seen one of my fourth grade students and her parents, but we had only waved to each other across the snowy hills.  It was time for me to get some lunch ready for the kids, so I'd left them with my sister and brother-in-law and made my way back to the cars.  Carefully I climbed up on the mound of snow piled at the edge of the gravel lot where we parked, but stepping down off the snow my boots slipped out from under me and I fell onto the seat of my new ski bibs.  Darn!  All the air rushed out of my lung and I felt like an idiot. Hoping no one had seen me fall I quickly stood up.

Weird?  My nose felt like it was freezing.  "I wonder why it's so cold?" I thought as I struggled to bring my hand up to feel my nose, but my hand seemed to be pinned down under something.  Slowly I moved my head from side to side and realized my face was pressed into something hard and cold and wet.  "What the...." I wondered groggily, unable to figure out where I was. 

Opening my eye right eye just a little bit I found myself staring at a dirty, black tire.  What on earth was going on?  Cautiously I pulled my arms out from underneath me and pushed myself up from the ground.  I seemed to be laying face first on snow covered gravel, although I had no recollection of falling down.

Grabbing hold of the running board, or step, or whatever that metal thing was called on the side of my astro-van, I pulled myself up onto my knees.  My head was spinning, but enough sense was coming back to me to make me want to get off of the ground quickly before anyone saw me laying there.  I struggled with the door for a moment, then clumsily pushed it open and pulled myself up so I could sit on the floor of the van, my legs still hanging out. What on earth had happened?

I remembered slipping and falling on the ice as I stepped over the snow at the edge of the gravel parking lot.  I remembered sitting down hard, the air rushing out of my lungs.  I remembered standing up fast so no one would see me, but then how did I end up face first on the gravel next to my car? 

Suddenly it dawned on me.  I must have stood up so fast I blacked out and fainted! Whoa!  That was kind of cool!  But now I could feel my nose again.  I guess it wasn't so much cold as stinging.  Gingerly I reached up and touched it.  Ouch!  Pulling off my gloves I felt it more carefully, realizing it was sticky and wet with blood.  I must have scraped the skin off as I slid through the snowy gravel.

I sat in the van for awhile until my head stopped ringing and the wooziness wore off a little, then I carefully stood up and took a step forwards until I could see my reflection in the side mirror.  Oh, boy, I was a mess!  My nose was dirty and bloody and all scraped up, bits of black gravel mixed in with the blood.  The left side of my top lip was cut and bleeding, and my chin was skinned up, too.  "This is going to be fun showing my kids at school on Monday," I thought.

I was still pretty shaky, but I had my equilibrium back, so I decided I'd better get on with fixing some lunch for my family.  Carefully I walked to the back of the van, opened the doors, got out the sack full of fixings, and carried it to the side of the parking lot where I'd planned to build a little fire and roast hot dogs.  By the time the kids came trooping back I had a warm fire, hot water for cocoa, and roasted hot dogs ready to eat.

"What happened to you?" my brother-in-law exclaimed as soon as he saw my face.  Everyone else gathered around me, excited to hear my story.  It sounded pretty silly when I told them I'd slipped on the ice, then passed out when I stood up too soon, but they oohed and awed and didn't once tell me I was dumb for not looking where I was stepping.  In fact, it was kind of fun being the center of attention.

My brother-in-law volunteer to drive home so I could sit in the back and rest my head, which was beginning to ache, so after cleaning up we packed all the snow gear in the back, climbed in, and headed home.  It was only the middle of the afternoon, and I scanned the parking lot once more  just to make sure Garth's truck hadn't pulled in while I was pre-occupied, but thank goodness it still wasn't there.  For sure, I decided, I was glad he hadn't brought his family up to play in the snow on this particular day, so he didn't get a chance to see my blood covered nose or my less than graceful face plant in the snow.