Annabelle!

Once upon a time in a field filled with barrels of hay far, far away were lots of scarecrows soon to be made. Some would be made to be hung in front of homes greeting trick or treaters and others would be decorated to hang on lampposts in a small town called Wilton. Some scarecrows would be wearing sport jerseys or be dressed up as minions while others would be sitting on a physioball demonstrating core strengthening exercises. One day, in a tiny physical therapy office called Dynamic Edge Physiotherapy tucked in a cozy little brick building off of route 7 in Wilton, news broke that it was that time of the year again. It was Wilton’s annual scarecrow fest! Soon after, some of the team, and even some patients, were coming up with ideas on how to decorate their soon-to-be scarecrow and what his/her name would be. Giovanni, Steve, Cornelia were some names that came to mind, but then the name Annabelle had a nice ring to it. Do we tie a band around the ankles to demonstrate a leg exercise? No, too simple. Throw some dumbbells in his/her hands? No, it would weigh the scarecrow down. But then, a patient said “have the scarecrow sitting on an exercise ball!” Eyebrows were raised and Annabelle was on her way.

The barrel of hay was picked up along with the scarecrow itself from Michaels Craft store. As she was being turned into a “core strengthening exercise” scarecrow and getting ready for the rest of Wilton to see her on display, Dynamic Edge was able to learn a little bit about her.

It started off Annabelle ended up in Michaels with the rest of her family, who were all one by one taken to homes; her father, Scare, her mother, Crow, and her sister, Cornelius. Cornelius was Dynamic Edge’s scarecrow for the scarecrow fest last year and it was just a coincidence they were able to get scarecrows from the same family. But before they ended up in the Michaels store located right down the road in Wilton, they were all just pieces of straw spread throughout fields in Nebraska. “I never thought my family and I would end up in Connecticut all the way from Nebraska. And never in a million years did I think I would be hung on a lamppost demonstrating a belly strengthening exercise!” Days of hard work went by, a lot of hay and adjustments were made, but the team was able to complete their goal! Annabelle was bigger than the team expected, her massive biceps preventing her arms from moving too much, and her lats making her waist looking like a twig. But in the end, she was ready to show off to the rest of Wilton. Even through a wind and rainstorm five days later, Annabelle was still sitting up strong and proud with her core tight, fist and knee high up in the air with a big smile on her face. “It’s been a great experience so far and everyone here in Wilton is lovely. Everyone has been pleasant to me as they walk by, except these two people who walked by and touched my biceps and laughed at me. I still kept smiling even though I really wasn’t happy.” As the scarecrow fest comes to a close, would she do it again next year? “No, not necessarily. I have other goals in my life that I would like to accomplish and participating in a scarecrow fest was just a once in a lifetime thing for me.”