Today, my back went out while pulling on my boots at the office, a simple task that sometimes catches us middle-agers by surprise. If you've ever had your back go out, you know how the day went, catching my breath in a sharp intake each time I attempted to stand up or sit down or turn, etc. There's not much that makes you feel more like an old lady than deliberate attempts to maneuver the most basic of moves at tortoise speed. Anyway on the way home our bus broke down 2.5 miles from my apartment. Normally I wouldn't worry about the delay because I'm just heading home, but tonight my little one had a band concert that I just had to be at! If I stayed to wait for the next bus I'd miss her performance. So I did what any sane parent with back pain would do--got off the bus to run / walk the rest of the way. Javier my Spanish-speaking friend got off with me so I would be safe, since we had a long stretch along Alameda Ave in not the best neighborhood to travel on foot. Along with another rider who chose not to wait it out, the three of us ran (aka slipped and slid), bundled in our snow pants and snow coats and snow boots carrying our backpacks in the 18 degree temps up the hill on the icy snowy sidewalk all the way to Belmar, gasping and coughing and sweating and laughing and talking in Spanglish. Javier kept checking his watch to assure me we were going to make it. Thirty five minutes later over hill and dale we arrived at my car, and after mi amigo helped scrape the sheet of ice off the windshield, I drove and got to the concert on time with 5 minutes to spare! I was a sweaty mess and later got chilled but se la vie. And I didn't think I was going to exercise today because of me achin' back. We all decided it was our best bus ride home ever.
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