DON'T FALL OUT OF BED

   There are many lines that refer as to how one gets out of bed with the one about getting out on the wrong side as particularly most popular. However, I maintain that falling out of bed is much more important for its effects last a whole lot longer!
     For near two months now, getting in and out of bed has been somewhat difficult what with one foot out of commission. The balance is off, the body does not go where one wants it and it is just plain awkward and exhausting. But here I was, getting better, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, looking forward to the day when the boot will be off and the foot will work as per G-d's orders and plans. Aahhh, the little things in life.
     After a lovely but long day yesterday, I went to bed, read a little and was off to sleep, hopefully till the morning - or so I thought. At about 1:30 or so I heard a thud, heard Gerry calling out "no, no" and there I was, on the floor, stunned and not knowing just how I got there. I recalled a dream I must have been having at the time of the fall but its details quickly faded against the most important detail of just how the hell do I get back up and into bed without destroying my foot and the surgery it had had. That was really a non starter.
     We managed somehow, using barely remembered principles of physics and aside from a somewhat damaged right knee and an ache in the foot, I thought it would all be okay, lucky. Well, that was not to be. This morning I awoke with an ache on the whole right side of the body, toe to head and I was not a happy camper. In fact, I am a pretty scared camper as I obsessively tested the various sites of surgery to make sure the surgical sites are still closed, wiggled the foot and toes, wished my knee good luck and checked the hip. The head - well, it got Advil!
     So today, instead of trying to walk a bit using the boot and the cane and leaving the walker out of it for a while, new plans and here will be a very nervous and tentative walking with walker, with boot and with care!
     So what is the point of this story? First of all remember that sage piece of advice. Do not fall out of bed, especially after surgery. Second, apply that lesson to life  for we never know when there is a fall coming, good time or not.
     We here in the US have had several falls lately, the latest being the suddenly warlike and aggressive Trump, he who swore he would avoid getting us enmeshed in another war, especially in the Middle East. Think again about whose finger is on that nuclear button and the lack of self control of the owner of that finger. In addition, he has refused to get permission from Congress for that Act of War and that is a major no no, even if the goal or aim was a good one. There are rules and regulations for a reason, but this man is opposed to all that would inhibit any of his actions or plans. So we all fell out of bed on this one and we have another fall looming as a strike force is sent to the seas near North Korea. Are we going to take on the whole world all alone, fighting on myriad fronts with a limited supply of soldiers and equipment or is that the secret path to jobs - the arms and munition industry, but remember, much is made elsewhere or with parts from other countries. Oops.
     Terrible and unsure times such as these are right now demand a steady and sane hand on the wheel, steering through the shoals and the dangerous surf. Trump is supposed to be a leader, not just the butt, albeit a very funny butt, of the jokes on SNL and elsewhere. Granted,we can always use comic relief but he is such an open target.... Somehow we need to pick ourselves up, careful of the suture lines of the nation and get back to where we are supposed to be and help get the world itself on an even keel as well.
     There are more ships of state around here that need to be "put to bed" so to speak in a proper manner. These ships have escaped their moorings and are roaming without a plan other than wild hair gestures and selfish desires. The people running the show have no clue as to how to do things the right way, how to get in and out of bed the right way, avoiding entanglement and suspicions and never harming the electorate.
     Take the mess we have here in the Village with UCO. The president is off balance, shouting and denying all who would oppose him or who have ideas other than those that would benefit him and his minions. Hence, I am banned for life - at least his life from UCO committees, as he forbids my presence on a committee though as an Executive Board member I am supposed to do that. But rules are not for him, our minor league Trump. He tries to shut down a speaker who recommends a replacement Treasurer as our most recent one has passed and has to be forced into hearing the suggestions of Olga who was peremptorily thrown off the Advisory Committee along with others who dared to offend the high master. And instead of this ridiculous and costly and unwanted broadband that he is pushing and with a particular company - sniff, sniff - why does he not question the Reflection Bay next step and its obvious danger to the very breath of life for many of our residents? NO, he is too busy ripping us off on his own projects and to hell with the rest of it all.
     So we keep on falling out of bed. We keep on ripping open our sutures and what do we gain for all the pain - the Indivisibles and other groups who protest with many newly awakened people. And here, in the village - people are still frightened of the empty gasbag for all the threats he makes and for his nasty disposition and mouth. Time to wake up - before we fall out of the bed again.