A funny thing happened on the way to...

...my back porch last night.

On a whim, my family decided to have a bonfire yesterday. It was a beautiful day, we were all home, and, well, why not have a bonfire? So my dad ran off to the store to secure the hot dogs and giant marshmallows, my mom collected firewood, and I took charge of setting things on fire.

We had a lovely time goofing off, burning food, trying to see if any of us actually knew a legitimate campfire song. By 10:30, the fire had begun to die down and I could feel myself starting to doze off. I decided to make a beeline for the house so I could get first dibs on the shower and head to bed.

I uncurled myself from my chair and headed for the back porch. And that's when the funny thing happened. Although I was taking very deliberate steps forward, I found myself moving further to the right and away from the porch with every step I took. At first I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. I had eaten quite a few marshmallows, and it was late and quite dark. Surely I was imagining things. I continued on and, again, found myself moving further across the backyard instead of toward the porch. Okay, so maybe my balance was a little off. I took a second to "re-orient" myself and then started off once more. And once again, I drifted sideways instead of forward.

Tipsy

By this point, I was laughing maniacally to myself as the porch lights moved further away and I continued to drift across the yard. Thankfully, my mom had headed towards the house only moments before me and, seeing her daughter stumbling drunkenly across the lawn and laughing wildly to herself, she hurried to my side. Grabbing my arm, she literally pulled me back towards the house and deposited me at the steps of the well-lit back porch. I managed to navigate safely inside from there.

My therapist had warned me that since my vestibular system is impaired walking in dark or dimly lit areas may be challenging. I hadn't had much issue with it up to this point but, then again, I don't typically walk around in the dark seeing as our house has electricity.

I guess my little bonfire escapade was a good reminder that I do need to be careful. Even though I'm beginning to make real progress with my recovery, I'm still not a 100% yet and should take the necessary precautions. It's so tempting to see improvement and think you're ready to take on the world.

Note to self: Make sure you're tethered to a secure object when wandering about in the dark. And perhaps lay off the burnt marshmallows.