Waiting For The Other Shoe To Fall

There are many times in life, when we know instinctively that all the bad things we've just dealt with, are just a part of more of the same to come.

That tooth ache might be numbed, but the root canal job to follow will be torture (not to mention the hurt to your eyes when you see the bill!).

The thin scratch down the side of your car wouldn't be much, if the shopping cart that did it wasn't now wrapped around your back fender.

Did I mention the friendly gesture in some churches, where they shake hands as a sign of peace to others?.. including the person behind you, who's been coughing so hard your hair is still parted from the last blast (evidently they hadn't learned about coughing into ones elbow...sigh).

Waiting for the other shoe to drop on our heads does have its upside, however. It makes us more prepared for life's little upsets and surprises.

The other day, while I was pulling up the mangled remains of what had been perfectly healthy dandelions, I discovered the process of harvesting freshly poisoned lifeforms, was a bit disconcerting.

As I crawled along like some Horticulturist Grim Reaper, I noticed the large dandelions, with their long stems and many leafy appendages, were transformed. Looking down on them was like peering into a sea-bed strewn with the remains of several octopuses; tentacles curled unnaturally around shriveled heads.

I dug them all out and quickly disposed of what was once, a veritable forest of yellow blooms dancing in the sun! If I had been more of an "earthy" personality, I could have picked them earlier, for the tea or salad they might provide. But then, again, no. We all must meet our fates and the bi-pedal weed slayer was theirs.

Somewhere in my deep unconscious while scouring the gardens and lawn for the fallen, I felt a pang of distress at my work.

A sharp sound of something about to break. I went to stand up and could barely move! I got as far as a crouch and scuttled like a bug back to a lawn chair. When I stretched my back it felt like a lightning bolt was running up and down my spine.

That's when it all became clear to me.

We all know the old idiom about "no action without a reaction"? Well, here it was in living color...the other shoe had dropped! (What's all that screaming? Oh, I think it was me...did one of those dandelions just chuckle and wave a shriveled arm at me?...