Last Sunday evening – that is, about eight and a half days ago – I was out in the street on foot, and I walked around the back of a large van parked by the roadside. I found out slightly too late and the hard way that the van had a tailboard sticking a foot out of the back at mid-shin height, which was almost invisible in the shadows. So I did the obvious thing: hopped up and down for a couple of minutes clutching my shin and cursing, then went on my way.

Since then my shin has given the occasional mild twinge in the place where I hit it, but it's looked undamaged, and not actually inconvenienced me. I had expected it to get completely better soon.

I am therefore somewhat startled, over a week later, to find that my shin has now, fairly suddenly, developed a visible bruise and become inconveniently tender to the touch. Bodies make no sense!