Destined by Gravity to Fail, We Try
Having fallen from the roof not once, but twice,
I verify that it is not the fall but the sudden stop that hurts.
The objectivist sense of the little: the and a, my house in this world.
Galileo postulated that gravity accelerates all falling bodies at the same rate.
While their etymologies differ, failure and fall share commonalities,
though terminal velocity is not one.
The distance between the glimpsed and the demonstrated.
Enthralled in the moment, Icarus drowned.
Rumor has it his plunge was due not to melting wax but to an improper mix
of rectrices and remiges: parental failure.
Thrust and lift. Drag. Resistance.
Acknowledgment of form in reality, in things.
When the produced drag force equals the plummeting object’s weight, the
object will cease to accelerate and will move at a constant speed.
To calculate impact force accurately, include the stopping distance in height.
Followed by long periods of silence.
This first appeared on the blog in December 2015.
O at the Edges 
🔥
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That last line – Brilliant!
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The silence is all-important, even if not sought.
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Ouch! Definitely the sudden stop is what hurts, even with falls from a lot lower than a roof.
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The most recent fall was a misstep from a ladder. It hurt more than my first fall from the roof thirty-some years ago. Ha!
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In past couple of years my feet have dissociated with my brain … if I don’t look where I’m stepping, I may experience sudden ground level “embrace” – 5 times to date; 5 times lucky with just bruising; but yikes knowing could be worse next time.
(So many temptations for my brain far more intriguing than monitoring my feet …)
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Double ouch! I don’t bounce as well as I used to. These days, each fall is accompanied with bruises/scrapes. I’ve been particularly careful about walking in snowy conditions, and this morning scraped part of driveway and walkway free from the ice layer lurking below the snow. Something is always trying to get us!
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“Followed by longs periods of silence” A mother’s worst nightmare after she’s heard a fall. She welcomes the ear piercing scream that follows.
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My falls are usually followed by long periods of cursing. 😊
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