It has been a very interesting summer.
When I say summer I really mean August and September. In mid August Cindy and I joined Laura's family on a picnic/tubing trip to Golden, CO. It was a really nice sunny warm if not hot day. I really was up for it since I have had fun in the past tubing down rivers. We started out with a
picnic and had a nice time. Then it was time to tube. The tube I had was really
too small. It is the kind of tube that you take to a swimming pool to float
around. The tubes other people in Golden had were much bigger more substantial. Cindy stayed back with Jackson and Ryan and off we went.
I got out into the creek and the water was flowing pretty fast. The others got
in before I did and took off. I sort of knew where they were going so I wasn't
worried that they were ahead of me. I expected to keep up with them. I really
wanted to keep up with him. Honestly I had my doubts about making this work but I didnt want to be left behind. When I attempted to get unto the tube my fears
were realized. It really was too small which meant that it was very tippy. All this
time while the others were floating downstream I was debating whether to go or not. Well I sat on top of the tube and started off. Right from the beginning I knew I was in trouble. I was more
worried about drowning then keeping up with them.
When I was a boy all of us
kids would go swimming at the swimming pool in Redwood Falls. I distinctly
remember when my brother and I decided to jump off the diving board. I don't
know my age but I was pretty young and I had never done it before. My brother
Don assured me that he would be there for me. I jumped off and panicked. I was
in the deep end of the pool and really did not know how to swim. I was flailing around underwater when
Donny jumped into the water and saved me. Then years later when I was in Las Cruces, NM I was part of "Float the Rio" race with Andrew Lerdal from our church. Each team created a raft on which to race down the Rio Grande. We had fun. We used a lot of
milk cartons.
During the race I fell off the raft. My life vest was a
joke. I was being dragged by the raft because I was attached to it. The water
was fast and now I was underneath the raft. I was able to grab the raft from
underneath and pull myself up but I could not get on the raft. Andrew was not
aware that I was in trouble. Anyway once again I was in trouble in water. The
long and short of it was I was able to hold on to the raft so I could breathe
and then finally return to the raft at the Finish. It had been very scary.
While tubing down that creek in Golden I decided I did not want to drown and it was time to get
out. I had bumped into some rocks and somehow hurt myself. A young guy helped me
get out of the water. I noticed I was limping but didn't really think much
about it. After recovering my breath I tracked down the others and headed back
to the picnic area. My foot hurt and I was still limping. For the next two weeks I limped around on that foot but it wasn't getting any better. I finally went to a
doctor and had an x-ray and it turns out I have broken my foot. So now I had to
wear a funny shoe that prevented my foot from bending so that it could heal.
Now fast-forward a few weeks and Cindy and I were on our way to
Virginia to visit Matt and AJ and kids. We were so excited about going. We
had a great time there. We went there for a couple of reasons - to see those wonderful grandkids and to help make Matt and AJ's lives just a little bit easier. They are so busy just like Laura and BJ. We really enjoyed our time with the grandkids and Matt and AJ. There was a lot of laughter,
drama, good conversations, good times and late-night brownies. Cindy and I would drive the kids to school and
pick them up every day. Cindy discovered how to best keep them occupied and
calm during the ride home. She had to sit in the back seat close to the kids and
entertain them. So we sang songs and looked for flags, elephants in the woods and anything else we could think of to distract them. Close to home there is the town of Waterford which was established in 1733. It's a nice little town with
narrow streets. And all through the town along the main road there were
American flags flying. We distracted the kids by asking them to help us look
for flags ever time we got to Waterford. They got really good at it. Every day we would look
for flags. They even looked for flags after we were gone. Anything to keep them
busy so they wouldn't cry or bother each other.
During our visit I was able to mow the lawn two times. I
enjoyed mowing with the riding mower. I also did some other jobs that needed to
be done. Cindy did her jobs and I did mine. The last night we
were there we watched a movie and then it was time for bed. I was hurrying down
to bed when I slipped and fell down the stairs. The next thing I knew I was on
the ground moaning and groaning because I hurt really bad. Cindy and Matt heard
my moans and the thud and came to investigate. Matt took charge and called 911. The next thing I knew I was being talked to by EMTs. They asked me how I was
doing and so on and so forth. Anyway they moved me onto a gurney and wheeled me out the back of the house in the light rain and up the lawn to the ambulance. Then there was the 20-minute ride to the hospital. Every bump hurt. I don't
remember much about the hospital. I remember having an IV then waking
up at Matt's house back in Lovettsville.
An x-ray showed that I had broken my humerus bone up by the
shoulder in 3 places.
So with my arm in a sling and my foot in a funny shoe Cindy and I flew home. Here I am 2 weeks later laid up at home
hardly able to do anything which I have found very frustrating. Every day I notice some improvement so I know I am healing.
It has been an interesting summer.
