Stairs

I grew up in a house with stairs. Whether it was the front door, or the back door, we had to climb stairs to get into the house.  That was a function of the fact that the house was built on the side of a hill.

The house in which I grew up had a basement and an attic.  It had two stories in between, which were designed to be two separate apartments.  As we grew as a family, we inhabited both stories, making most of the upstairs as bedrooms, but using the upstairs kitchen as a pool room and storage room.  The point is, we had to climb stairs daily and regularly in the house in which I grew up.  The stairs were steep, and had a wicked turn a little before reaching the top.

I live in a different place now, and most houses in this part of the world are one level, or maybe, split level, with one or two steps in the house.  Occasionally, a house has two stores, especially in the high dollar homes built in the newer additions in the south and west of the city.  Some, few, have basements. Some have detached storm cellars, used on rare occasions when tornadoes are possible. Some of these houses have attics, and if they do, the attics are unfinished and generally accessed by ladders or pull-down stairs. 

So, we do not see many stairs in this part of the world. I work in a building that has stairs, but for safety reasons, we are discouraged from using the stairs. I have worked in other places that had stairs, and I used to use them, for the exercise. But no more.

My most usual experience with stairs in the last few years has been when I go to the Lady Raider or Texas Tech Raiders basket ball games in the United Supermarket Arena http://www.texastech.com/facilities/fac-usa.html. I do not use the elevator to climb to the concourse, but climb the stairs, sometimes outside, sometimes, inside, and then walk down stairs to seating.

Other than that, I do little that involves steps.  I had been doing physical therapy routines at the Covenant Lifestyle Center http://www.covenanthealth.org/Our-Services/LifeStyle-Centre.aspx pool. Depending upon the routine, sometimes I did step exercises. 

Tonight, I went to Lowrey Field http://www.lubbockisd.org/files/_uNEgy_/16a1007a1bd59f713745a49013852ec4/LISD_101513_AD_Brochure_Web.pdf in Lubbock, Texas to watch a high school football game.  We had to climb stairs to get to seating and to find the best perch for our purpose.  We climbed stairs up and down. Sometimes, we climbed, up and down, over the rows of seating.  This has been my first experience with stairs and steps since last March.  I felt unsettled, and had some touch of vertigo.  I also had some physical sensation making me concerned if I could do the stairs. But I did!  With no problem.  Wow!  That is exciting for me.