Thursday, January 31, 2013

Getting a Grip

I had a pair of Yaktrax for walking the dogs when we lived in town because you can't rely upon people to always shovel their icy sidewalks. I can  manage the little bit of ice we usually get on the farm, so I decided to give them to Israel, our new son-in-law from Mexico, who walks to classes and is not used to navigating snow, ice and frigid cold.

Yesterday I was carrying a stack of sofa  cushions (part of my big upholstery project) from the car, treading very gingerly across the  ice, thinking "If I were to fall, at least I have a pile of cushions to land on!" No sooner did I think that thought than my feet swooshed out  sideways from beneath me and I whomped to the ground,  landing on my hip and elbow, but not on the cushions. Ouch.

So, last night I purchased another pair of Yaktrax. This pair is glow green- and I discovered this morning that they actually do glow in the dark! Probably not enough to light my way in the barn, but bright enough that if one pops off during evening chores I will be able to find it easily.
Plus, they color-coordinate  perfectly with the beautiful muck boots Rog gave me for Christmas! I wore the Yaktrax this morning. Our farmyard still has an inch of hard ice coating everything, but now it is also dusted with snow so walking is even more treacherous. It was so nice to walk confidently.  I happily realized that chores take half the time if you don't have to take baby steps and hold onto gates and bushes to keep from sliding downhill! That was $20 well-spent. Especially if it prevents a broken elbow or a concussion.

1 comment:

Gardeningbren said...

I didn't know they had glow in the dark ones!Nice with your Christmas boots I must say.

Here in our area of Nova Scotia we had the ice yesterday. Raining now but temps dropping tonight. Hope it isn't too treacherous for both of us.