A Minor Injury

 

        Last Friday was rainy and windy in northern Door County, not the best weather for the annual Fall Fest. C and I wanted to walk around and see what there was to see. It's also a nice place to grab a bite. We put on our raincoats  and warm hats and ventured out. 

        We were able to find a really good parking place. We got our of our car and started to walk toward the places where vendors had set up. The only places set up were the larger booth and tents which had most likely been set up the previous day before the wind started blowing. C crossed the street while I was looking at something else. When I  noticed where he was, my first instinct was to run and catch up with him. Before I took one step, my foot slipped and I found myself flat on the ground at the edge of the street. I immediately got up as I knew the cars in the street would be able to see me. Gingerly I crossed the street and joined C on the other side. 

        C was shaken and upset as he thought maybe I'd been hit by a vehicle while crossing the street. I assured him that I had not been hit, I slipped on the wet pavement. We went off the the side to assess     the damage. The front of my pants were wet and there was a dark stain on one knee. My left shoulder hurt, probably from the abrupt motion of catching myself before I landed too hard on the ground. We went into a nearby coffee shop to get a hot chocolate. While we waited for the chocolate, I looked at the knee of my pants. It didn't looked ripped or torn but there was a stain and I was certain it was blood. It was the first time I wore these pants and I was upset because they could be ruined. I can get blood stains out fairly easily when they are fresh, but I knew we would be at the Fall Fest for awhile giving the stain a chance to set in. I also had the sick feeling I may have skinned my knee. 

        We finished our chocolate and went in search of a brat. We found the brat booth and purchased our food and drinks. It started to rain so we took shelter under an awning. After I was done eating, I gingerly pulled up my pant leg to look at my knee. The bottom part of the knee had a minor scrape. The top part however was an angry red. There was no first aid station nearby or anyplace where I could get something to cover it. I blotted it gently with a wet napkin that C gave me. We walked around a little more and then decided to leave.

        We stopped at the pharmacy first where I got some large stretchy bandages. I put one on the top part and another on the bottom part. We went back to our hotel so I could change into a new pair of pants. I rinsed the stain in cold water and then rubbed at it with some white bar soap. I hoped that most of the stain would come out. I could wash the pants when went we got home. After dinner I carefully cleaned the scapes and put fresh bandages on them and went to bed.

        A scrape is a minor injury, but it is amazing how much it can hurt. I swear every pair of pants I wore for the next few days rubbed on the more severe scape making it feel just sore enough to be irritating. Because the scrape is on my knee, I had to use bandaids that could stretch and those tend to have strong adhesives. Getting them off in order to change bandages was quite a process. I learned that the best way to do it,was to work slowly and pull the skin away from the adhesive. My skin started to react from the adhesive.

        I don't remember knee scrapes being this much trouble when I was younger. The driveway of the house I grew up in had a gravel driveway so knee scapes were pretty common. I don't remember them ever being painful once they were cleaned out. Why do minor injuries like paper cuts and scrapes hurt out of proportion to their severity?

        Well, the scrapes should heal pretty fast. The moral of the story is, be careful moving on wet pavement and always keep some large bandaids in the car.....