it has happened

I was warned that moving to a "third world country", i woul be asaulted. That violence was rampant and that i was risking life and limb moving from New Mexico, USA to Atenas, Costa Rica. And, after three and half years here, i have been assaulted. Yes, risking life and limb every day...it finally came home to roost. I fear for my continued safety and have changed my behavior...at least temporarily........ How was i injured? Was it a random gunman in a Wal-Mart? No. Was it a protester driving into a crowd of people? No. Was it even a drug junkie robbing me for whatever he can get to finance his next fix? No. Thse were my fears in the US but not here........ Was i walking in "the bad part of town"? no. Was i out at an inappropriate time (ie 0330 in the dark on the streets of Washington, DC which i did nearly daily when in DC for 10 years)? no. Was i flashing gold chains and diamonds and other riches? no....... No How did i risk life and limb this week?........ I walked home, my usual route, on a sidewalk, in front of the cemetary, around the corner from a grocery and mom/pop restaurant. And on this sidewalk, i saw a stray dog. Nothing unusual, having passed already three other "street dogs", of the chihuahua variety/size. This was a gold laborador size...but not a purebred. Just another street dog, right? I stayed on my side of the sidewalk, not going in the street (as i often do when passing people or dogs or both on the sidewalk...COVID cooties!) as there was a car coming in my direction. As i passed the dog (not making eye contact to be threatening, not really thinking of the dog in fact), he growled at me and bit my leg........ [Remember when in school we girls had to put our hands to our thighs and if the skirt or shorts were shorter than the tips of our fingers it was too short? Ok, in putting my hands to my thighs, the wounds that i have are at the base of my hand. That's how high the dog was to me.]....... He didn't break the fabric of my pants but my leg HURT. He ran off and i crouched down with "discomfort" to my thigh. But no bleeding. As i was still about a mile or two from the house, i had no other option than to continue to walk and check things when i got home....... While my pants were not torn, my skin was. I have a ~1-1/2" laceration (you can see muscle and fascia) to my thigh with another smaller tear lower. My thigh is swollen and bruised to the knee. The skin is taut and i have, as the Red Cross used to tell me when i would give blood, " a rainbow of colors" appearing........ I have never (despite the story that my mom will tell you of my _begging_ for a puppy when i was 7 years old) been a fan of the canine. This has not gone farther to endear me to them. I was doing nothing to threaten this animal. I was not intruding on "his house". I was not taking his food, threatening his puppy or enganging him at all. Just random meanness and violence from an animal....... An animal that is, presumably, still loose on the roads of Atenas...... While i am not walking since (two days so far), i do want to return to leaving my house and walking in the sunshine. I will go back to carrying a broomstick to protect myself from dogs (was overwhelmed by a neighbor's seven dogs that were "overly enthusiastically welcoming me" and tore my arms to shreds two years ago)........ But... i'm afraid. Yes, i am fearful that this dog..or another..could be on my next walk. And that it would be even worse. This animal, for the damage that he caused, did only bite me once then ran away. What would the result have been had he been more persistent? Or had bitten more aggressively than the "nip" that he did? Had he been one of those "attack pit bulls or rottweiler or bull mastiff"? Or if there are more than one dog?..... I cannot be a prisoner in my home because there are stray dogs out there. Or other threats. I already wear an SPF 90 BIG floppy hat to protect against future skin cancer having had a lesion cut off my face last year. Now, i will carrry a BIG stick to protect against the threat of a recurrence of the damage that i received this week. I'll walk "armed" against the threats that are on the street. SMH...... But not soon. I'm still too sore...and still bleeding through my bandages and pants (started on the walk home...had to throw away the two pants that i was wearing)...and still too afraid. Maybe next week, when i feel better. I do, however, miss the time in nature..and the endorphins....of walking. I've thrown away my gym shoes (needed to get new ones soon anyway) and have gotten a new broomstick in anticipation of _someday_ returning to my walks. I don't know that i'll be able to return to that same route, though. I know in my heart that a homeless street dog could be anywhere by now...but i'm feeling queasy just typing now the thought of returning to that sidewalk near the cemetary and auto repair shop...... Even in my sleepy town...danger is everywhere.......