Reminiscing about days of old
With the advent of old fashioned winter weather (ice storms, frigid temps, and ample snow-fall) for the end of December, 2013 and the beginning of January 2014 got me to reminiscing. (http://pciyrtpy.blogspot.com/2010/12/ten-miles-to-school-barefoot-in-snow.html )
I recalled the issue of learning to ice skate as a youngster. Specifically the part of falling over backwards and cracking my head on the ice. It was a memory that brings a shudder to my body and I can re-feel the pain from my occiput to my forehead and the effect on my sinuses. It is definitely something I never want to experience again.
Fast forward to yesterday, Saturday January 4th. Having been away from the homestead since Friday the 20th of December, I decided to take a tour around the property and check the status of the bird and squirrel feeders as well as what damage the ice laden trees of the previous week had wrought. I was glad to see that the ice had melted off the trees without too much limb loss or damage to the other structures on the property. However the layer of ice that had covered the snowfall was still intact. The recent snowfall had dropped only a couple of inches on top of this icy crust which made it easy to walk around the property for my inspection without breaking through.
Everything appeared copacetic and I returned to the walk way leading around to the entry door. there was a slight drop of 3" to 4" to the still ice covered walk way. Yup you guessed it; Instantaneously and I mean instantaneously both feet slid forward at 120 miles per hour and I landed prostrate with a thud, smacking the back my head on the non-forgiving ice as my thoracic vertebrae landed on the 4" hump leading down to the path.
Lying there evaluating the extent of, if any, injury sustained, I hear my wife call out asking if I was OK. Head? damn, hurts like hell, just like it did when I was ice skating as a kid. Concussion? Not sure but frontal headache is evident. Back broken? Well, I can still move my legs and I'm breathing OK. Again my wife yells, "are you OK?" I say: "I think so."
As if I needed reminding that your life can change or end in an instant.
My luck held one more time!!
I recalled the issue of learning to ice skate as a youngster. Specifically the part of falling over backwards and cracking my head on the ice. It was a memory that brings a shudder to my body and I can re-feel the pain from my occiput to my forehead and the effect on my sinuses. It is definitely something I never want to experience again.
Fast forward to yesterday, Saturday January 4th. Having been away from the homestead since Friday the 20th of December, I decided to take a tour around the property and check the status of the bird and squirrel feeders as well as what damage the ice laden trees of the previous week had wrought. I was glad to see that the ice had melted off the trees without too much limb loss or damage to the other structures on the property. However the layer of ice that had covered the snowfall was still intact. The recent snowfall had dropped only a couple of inches on top of this icy crust which made it easy to walk around the property for my inspection without breaking through.
Everything appeared copacetic and I returned to the walk way leading around to the entry door. there was a slight drop of 3" to 4" to the still ice covered walk way. Yup you guessed it; Instantaneously and I mean instantaneously both feet slid forward at 120 miles per hour and I landed prostrate with a thud, smacking the back my head on the non-forgiving ice as my thoracic vertebrae landed on the 4" hump leading down to the path.
Lying there evaluating the extent of, if any, injury sustained, I hear my wife call out asking if I was OK. Head? damn, hurts like hell, just like it did when I was ice skating as a kid. Concussion? Not sure but frontal headache is evident. Back broken? Well, I can still move my legs and I'm breathing OK. Again my wife yells, "are you OK?" I say: "I think so."
As if I needed reminding that your life can change or end in an instant.
My luck held one more time!!
posted by rel at 10:22 AM
1 Comments:
I hope your poor head is okay now, Rel. Sounded a nasty fall. Your post reminded me of the one and only time I tried snow skiing. I was on my posterior more times than I was upright. What amazed me though, is that I learnt to water ski with no trouble whatsoever!
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