Do 'da shuffle !!

   Legos or Labs .. What causes you to shuffle?
Most people my age still walk very well.  And
for a while there I did too.  There was a time
earlier in my life and maybe now that I would
have to say "mm not so much"  I'm not talking
about a constant balance problem or anything,
Just certain times of the day.   Early in my
marriage I developed the walking problem right
around the time my two kids were growing up.
Working swing shifts at my job and watching
kids off and on while my wife worked made for
some unusual sleeping patterns.  Many times I
would have to divide my sleep into different
segments throughout the day.  Now if you
have ever tried to walk half asleep through the
house where two toddlers have been playing all
morning you would know the pain of Legos on
bare feet !  Thus I learned to shuffle thus kicking
said pain makers ahead of me instead of stepping
on them. At least until I was fully awake.  This
practice served me well for quite a few years and
although it didn't eliminate all of the incidents , it
did minimize them.
   As the children grew so did my ability to walk
normally.  I outgrew my shuffle and developed a
normal adult person walk, almost a strut if you will
being proud to overcome my one and only flaw.
   Life was good for a while and then something
strange happened.  I got older.  Without going
into detail with maturity came a need to, shall we
say, get up more frequently during the night.
Enter into the equation one big yellow dog .
Never mind the tiny pitch black dogs that one has
a hard time seeing in broad daylight.  they have the
common sense to sleep in various hidden corners
of the room and on occasions, even in their beds.
But the big yellow lab?  Noooo  he prefers either
the hallway or the doorway of the bedroom.  Now
one would think that a large yellow dog on dark
brown carpeting would be easy to see.  One would
be wrong !  Half asleep without my glasses in the
middle of the night you could park a Volkswagen
in our hall with the lights on and I would probably
run into it. I can't count the number of times I have
stumbled over that dog in the middle of the night.
What's the answer you ask?  nightlights?  glow stick
collars?  Nope  It's the shuffle !  It came back to me
so easily, like I had never stopped.  I now look like
Tim Conway when he played the Old Man part on
The Carol Burnett show when she was Misses A'Wiggins.
I just use my toes as curb feelers and shuffle along
till I feel fur then try to  his guess his position so I can
step over him. (which I'm successful at about sixty
per cent of the time)  You would think he would
learn but as I type here at the computer he just walked
by, gave me that look and headed down the hall to
settle in for the night.  Maybe a flashlight on the
headboard would be a good idea.  Naa It would still
necessitate me opening my eyes completely and we
all know that's not going to happen in the middle of
the night.  So I guess it's back to the shuffle !