Pride Goeth Before A Fall

I’m not so sure that this is the biblical application intended, but I did experience pride and a fall yesterday morning. 🙂

For the last several weekends, I have endeavored to rise and shine, as they say, by taking our dog, Thumper, for a brisk walk at early light either up or down the roadside. He seems to enjoy the alternative watering or fertilizing locations to the usual yard, and I like the exercise it offers me, especially on the return trip when he’s done his business and is ready to motor.

On Sunday morning, we’d finished the routine and had arrived on the south side of our property, where I unbuckled his leash and said the magic word: “House!” He sprinted for the door, pausing at the corner of the house just where the wooden walkway passed it, waiting for the old man to catch up.

As I hoofed along in my pride of life, thrilled to have had two days of morning walks, I failed to negotiate the step onto the wooden walkway. In a blink, I realized that I was too far from the house on the left to catch myself there, and the shrubs to the right were too weak to help me. Uttering words I shall not relay here, I went down hard, skinning and twisting my right knee. Not wanting to spend my day so close to misery, I rolled over, struggled to my feet, and saw Thumper looking at me with what I deemed to be a mixture of pity and confusion. “Human, are you coming or not?”

“Go on, now, Thumper. Go to the house.” As we passed the bay window, I caught a glimpse of concern on my wife’s face. I stepped much more carefully onto the deck, up the steps, and into the house.

“Did you fall?” she asked. I nodded. I pulled off my jeans to check the damage; two patches on my knee were scraped clean of skin. I applied ointment to soothe the discomfort, and noticed that my left knee also had a scratch or two.

“Well,” I said to her, “I was getting rather proud of myself for walking two mornings in a row. Pride goeth before a fall, you know.”