accident

Halfway to work this morning I turned a corner and didn't see the patch of black ice. My bike flew out from under me and into the road and I landed with an icy thud three feet away. You know how it is--you close your eyes tightly for a second and you let your body relax into the pavement. Am I whole? I'm whole. I got to my feet and pulled my bike out of the road. Checked us both over. My bike is a beast; it's not even scratched. Me, well, I may be a bit bruised, but I am certainly in tact. I sat on the curb for half a minute, catching my breath and holding my head. I finally stood and smoothed my scarf and straightened my helmet and kicked off, thinking 'I am fine, I am fine, I am fine.' I am fine. But as I picked up speed again my eyes filled with tears and I cried the rest of the way to work. Not because I'm hurt--I was just bent and muddied--but because in the space of the three minutes of falling and caution and recovery, fully four vehicles had stopped to make sure I was ok. A lady in a truck even offered to give both me and the bike a ride to wherever I was heading. So I cried, because I AM ok, and because I easily could not have been, and because early morning strangers would have been kind.

I've gotten the mud off and my head is finally clearing, but this is going to color the rest of my day--I'm going to be very young.