There are days when everything seems to go just great… and then there are all of the other days. There are those other days when things are not particularly bad, but certainly not good. You make progress, but it seems that it comes despite some invisible, dark force lurking around the corner.

In a playful moment with your child, you slide in your stocking feet across the smooth living room floor. The stereo pumps energy into the air and life seems good. Then the dark force shows up. Your foot hits the half eaten, halloween gummy bear that has been laying in wait for someone in stocking feet to come sliding across the room. The coefficient of friction between your foot, the half eaten gummy bear, and the floor is much higher than you were counting on. Your foot stops as your upper body continues, nearly unabated. Your upper body changes velocity due to the change in heading – from straight ahead to arcing towards the floor.

Sprawl, flop, crash, topple, founder, lurch, stagger, careen, totter… aren’t thesauruses great fun?