Yesterday morning I had a meeting with the Mayor, so I stepped up my usual work garb by putting on a tie and my sports coat. It was raining on Wednesday, so I put on a raincoat, and headed out the door. About two blocks later, I came to the one sidewalk that has still had not been cleared of the ice that first fell in December. Of course, I walk this length of sidewalk almost every day, so I knew it was coming. But I hadn't anticipated that the flowing rain water would make the ice that much more slippery.

No sooner had I taken two steps across the ice than I was down, flat on my back. My ass and back hurt, I cut my hand. Worst of all, my pants, my underwear, my shirt and my sports coat were all soaked with rainwater. Uhg. I headed home and changed into dry clothes, and Mayor Johnson didn't get the pleasure of seeing me in my sports coat (I only own one, after all). You can bet I'll be penning a letter to this inconsiderate homeowner, to let them know how un-neighborly it has been of them to not clear their sidewalk all winter, and how lucky they are that my injuries were minor. (My back and ass are now fine. My hand will heal in a day or two.)

But with this morning's snow, I figured it was high time to remind everyone out there, and not just my neighbor, to clear your sidewalks. Not only is the neighborly thing to do, City Code Enforcement Officer Dan Cogan would tell us that it's also the law.

Although I'm mostly lucky that no one was around to see my embarrassing blunder, I still shouldn't have had to endure a not-so-graceful flop to the ground. Stay safe out there, have a great weekend, I'll see you on Sunday.