All morning I’d been telling myself to concentrate on my driving but I had all kinds of thoughts bubbling up in my head as I rode towards Teacher Ho’s house. So it was that with ten minutes left on my drive I hit a patch of loose gravel and mud and overcompensated sending the scooter down on it’s left side with my left ankle between the scooter and the road.

I have still images in my head moments of the action which happened very fast. I’m sliding, I try to correct and go to far. I know I’m falling. I’m down the bike is on top of me and I bounce up and out from under the bike somehow. At some point in the process I say, “Fuck.”

I sat for a minute then righted and pulled it to the side of the road. I sat again, my lower leg and ankle were in obvious pain. I relaxed and breathed and got up and rode the rest of the way.

At Teacher Ho’s house I went inside and sat down. I started talking to An Jay and showed him my bloody knee (only minor) teacher Ho asked what happened and then started massaging my foot and ankle. After a bit he asked me if I wanted one his student’s to do acupuncture. I could only smile and say yes.

How many houses does one go to with Chinese medical doctors waiting to help?

A day later I can walk with minimal discomfort and am on the road to recovery. Of course I never needed to be on this road in the first place, if I’d kept my mind on the road.