I dropped off Casey at work this morning and had a plan to go into Boston to the outdoor market at Haymarket… finally, after 6 years in the Boston area. It looked ominously like rain but we were late and I ran out without my umbrella. Chew toys for the dog… yes, protection from impending downpour… not so much.

I was determined to push on though so Bob and I drove back from Cambridge, parked next to the Charlestown bridge and started walking over it to the North End.

Bob is doing pretty well walking on the leash now… but gets distracted by other pedestrians. You can almost hear his inner dialogue, “Oh! A person! Where are they going? Can I come? Oh boy!”

So in order for me to get anywhere, I have to keep the leash held pretty closely and also keep an eye one where he is walking. If he is not bounding after some kid, he is darting right in front of my feet. He keeps moving though, which is better than we were doing last week. No much of the butt in the air, dead stop stuff going on anymore.

We make it into the North End and start walking toward Haymarket when the sky opens up. I grab Bob and dart into a closed restaurant entryway and chat it up with some lovely German ladies from Mannheim who just love Bob. Eventually, it becomes clear to all of us that the rain is not going to stop anytime soon so a disgruntled Bob (hates rain) and I run into the North End, hoping to find a convenient store that sells cheap umbrellas.

By the time I find an open convenient store, Bob and I are drenched. I had scooped him up into his sling (yes, I know I am ridiculous) so most of him was fairly dry except for his head and shoulders. I didn’t fare so well and looked like Maya did the other day- hehe.

The store did not sell umbrellas though and, frankly, I didn’t think I could get any wetter. This very Italian grandfather type was chatting with me just outside the convenient store- debating my options with me and admiring Bob. Then, to my surprise, he said, “Hold on! Stay where you are- I’ll be right back.” He goes down the block and comes back with an umbrella. How sweet is that? I was trying to ask him if I could bring it back to him later but he wouldn’t hear of it. Luckily, as it turns out.

After that, it was actually pleasant to walk in the rain… the temperature was mild and the downpour had calmed down a bit. We got a coffee, dried off just inside a coffee shop and then got some wonderful CHEAP cherries, corn, tomatoes, cilantro and a baguette at Haymarket.

Since the rain had stopped, his royal Bobness could get out of the sling and walk on his own for a bit so we headed back toward Charlestown. Back we go across the bridge, me trying to balance my new umbrella, the long baguette, and the rest of my goodies from Haymarket and Bob fluctuating between walking perfectly to my side and madly trying to trip beautiful blond German families coming back from the USS Constitution.

That is when it happened. Paying such close attention to Bob distracted me from my own walking and toward the end of the bridge, my ankle gave out on an uneven bit of sidewalk and the baguette, my bags, and the umbrella went flying. I fell like a stone and, unfortunately, the umbrella pulled out from under my arm in such a way that the handle went into the ground and the pointy metal end stabbed me under my shoulder with all of my weight.

I was so winded and in pain that I dropped Bob’s leash. Luckily, the beautiful German family ran up to me and helped find all my crap that was all over the sidewalk and helped me get to my feet. The oldest daughter even grabbed Bob’s leash before he ran into traffic- thank goodness.

Here is picture I got of the umbrella- can you see how bent it is? OUCH!

Just when you think that people in the city are awful and no one cares about anyone else… the world surprises you. Just sending out a little thank you…

This entry was posted on Friday, August 4th, 2006 at 10:14 pm and is filed under Notes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.