Toe clips are the new bane of my existence.   A few weeks ago while endeavoring to save the earth by riding our bicycles, my husband made an unexpected (to me) stop just in front of me in our driveway.  Instead of pulling forward and running over my son in the bike trailer I too tried to stop suddenly.  As my bike slowly tipped toward the cement, I struggled in vain to pull my foot out from its toe clip and ended up sticking out my arm instead.  Crack! 

I knew it was broken right away but didn’t realize it was also quite dislocated. As Roscoe chanted “Uh-oh Mama,” I wondered whether I would actually be able to pull myself off the pavement.  I lay there ungracefully sprawled out for few moments, using Lamaze breathing to try not to descend into shock.  Some very kind passersby stopped to help, the neighbors volunteered to take Roscoe, and we were off to the hospital in search of healing and relief in the form of morphine.

Despite the pain and the long emergency room ordeal, I am very grateful for the small things that have made this bearable.  Here are the lessons that I’ve learned that (abstractly) relate to living green.

  • Local is Better: Thank goodness it happened in our driveway rather than a few miles away!
  • Community Counts: Friends, neighbors, and family cooked for us, babysat and let me take long naps.  We are so grateful to have a circle of support.
  • Children Need To Be Empowered:  Roscoe can do more than I realized and having one arm has helped me allow him more independence.  He now climbs into his car seat by himself and walks more than ever before since I can’t lug him around as much.
  • Cloth Diapering Is Shockingly Easy: If I can change a poopy cloth diaper with one arm and a squirmy son, surely anyone can! 

Now that my arm brace is off and I’m slowly improving my range of motion, I hope to be back on the bike before summer begins.  In the meantime, I’m feeling gratitude for all the things I once took for granted, like scratching my nose, having two arms for toddler tending, and being able to type this blog.