I trip a lot. I am certain that an area rug will be the cause of my accidental death. I also trip a lot outside too though and I can’t blame the interior designer for that, I suppose.

Not only do I trip, but I often fall. The other day a pumpkin vine wrapped itself around my ankle and threw me to the ground like a calf roping contest. The problem is with my left knee which was severely injured when I was a kid and I walk out of balance with a big limp and a weak core. The other problem is I don’t pick up my feet when I walk. I should have listened to my grandmother’s harping on me as a child to “Pick up your feet!!!” I thought it was just part of the grandmother package deal. It doesn’t take much to trip me and down I go. (I am continuing to chase my 2021 walking goals and I haven’t walked less than 10,000 steps in a day so far.)

The other day when the pumpkins successfully roped me, I fell pretty hard and I just stayed down for bit taking inventory of different body parts. That is when I noticed how beautiful the sky was. I haven’t laid down on the ground and stared at the sky in a long time.

I rarely look skyward as my eyes are usually scanning the ground for the next obstacle – which is actually a pretty good analogy for other areas in my life. I need to look upward, not always looking for the next problem.

To help with looking up, I got a hammock and I put it by the swing out back. Now I can easily look at the clouds above me without the indignity of a trip and fall. I can just quietly watch the changing skyscape. I think the inventor of the rope hammock should have been awarded a Nobel Prize for something.

Of course Gracie thinks Hammock Time is Ball Time!

And, Benny thinks Hammock Time is Nuzzle Time with Gracie.

By the way, soon after their little sneak attack on me, those pumpkin vines met Mr. WeedEater, but I guess I do owe them a favor. Too late though, I chopped them to the ground. Oh well, as they say, Onward and Upward!