i am completely useless as a lefty. i use my right hand primarily for everything. there is one task that i predominately use my left hand for and that is driving. arm propped on the window ledge and hand firmly grasping the steering wheel. when i use both hands, they tend to fight each other and then my car is shimming down the road. driving with my right just isn't as comfortable, so i use my left.
so over the weekend i went on a hike to heather lake with matt. the weather was perfect, my company was superb and the hike was incredible. neither of us had ever been there, so we got to experience the newness together. the trail was muddy, snowy and totally awesome. the lake itself was breathtaking. sometimes i feel so extremely blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the world, be able bodied enough to experience the wonders before me and grateful for the ability to share the experience with an incredible man who i am quickly falling for.
the ascent was problem free. i am slower than he is, but he is a boy and well enough said. besides i kind of like following him, i can admire his physique and goofball ways that make my smile wider. my lack of agility came in to play on the descent. i made it nimbly through all the snow, even slid down a hill like i was snowboarding. however, about half way down in the corner of switchback, i was watching matt jump off of something, which i will admit totally freaks me out because i am afraid he isn't going to land properly, but he does. i took my concentration off the trail blindly placed my right foot on a smooth surfaced wet rock and away my foot went without me. instinctively i tried to brace myself with my hands and ended up jamming my right hand into the rock and jarring my wrist. ouch!!
matt came back quickly concerned that i had seriously hurt myself and of course my i'm good just slipped pride kicked in. after making sure that i could move my wrist up and down and had full mobility of my fingers we continued our descent. well it wasn't long before the elegance of my wrist and the slenderness of my fingers turned into a giant swollen mess. my fingers were quickly turning into polish sausages, a large fluid filled bubble was forming and forget about definition in my wrist i had kanckles on my arm.
i can be a pretty tough girl when i need to be, which allowed me to continue the descent without shedding a tear. however i have a really hard time masking how i am feeling and matt can read me pretty well. so as we were crossing another stream, he stopped to assault a tree. i took the opportunity to park my rear, i was in quite a bit of pain but i wasn't going to complain. distracting myself i turned my attention to matt who was stripping a poor tree of its bark. obviously i asked him what he was doing you'll see. after stripping about 7 inches of bark with a lush green layer of moss, he soaked it in the stream and wrapped it around my wrist. i cannot begin to explain how exquisite that felt. so we continued on with my wonder woman bracelet of soaking wet ice cold moss. i looked like a complete idiot but heck it felt incredible and i was more concerned about the relief than my appearance. note to the ladies, always good to have a skilled mountain man in your presence.
come to find out completing the hike was the easy part. living alone as a lefty is proving to be an enormous challenge. i had to go to the store for some supplies. i was in desperate need of an ice pack, i'm sure mine is in a lunchbox somewhere. i needed a bottle of ibuprofen that i could open one handed because my skills do not allow me to push and twist with my left hand. i also needed a beer. hallelujah for an automatic and a large bag. if i didn't have those i wouldn't be able to drive or be able to carry my supplies from the store to my car.
back at home i ran into another hiccup. i did buy a six pack of beer but the beer i bought required the use of a bottle opener. after many failed attempts to secure the bottle i looked down at the floor. aha!! i secured the bottle between my feet, bent over to place the opener just right on the cap and with one quick flick of my uninjured wrist that cap was off. success! enjoying that first gulp i tried to envision how i was going to get ready in the morning.
there was no way i was going to be able to dry my hair and then use the flat iron, so a curly hair day was in my future. putting on make up seemed daunting. i envisioned skewering my eyeball with my eyeliner from the lack of coordination in my left hand. mascara, forget about it, i would end up with more mascara on my face rather than my lashes. things i didn't think about, clasping my bra seriously difficult without the use of both hands. rewrapping my wrist in the ace bandage that has become an accessory. putting deodorant in the left pit, can't find the correct angle.
well, my first hike with matt was definitely an experience i will never forget. despite my clumsiness i had a marvelous time. as far as my ineptness at being a lefty, i am sure in the days to come i will become very skilled in my everyday tasks. positive i won't be ambidextrous by the time i'm healed but i definitely have a greater appreciation for those who have to relearn skills using a non-dominant appendage.
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