Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

This has been a week of firsts for this boy.

Sunday, at a pool party with one other family and in a moment of stupidity - I was butterfly swimming across a pool that I wasn't familiar with, I did one rep too many and impacted the shallow step which did extend out into the pool by an uncharactisticly 3 feet. Great for the little ones, not so for formally aspiring swimmers!

KRAK! I hit my forehead and nose flat against the step. I came up thinking, "Okay, you idiot, compose yourself, shake off the stars, and get back to entertaining the kiddos." I was cupping my face, but I couldn't see the stars do to the blinding pain that just wouldn't subside. After a moment I could hear my friends asking me if I was okay. Jokingly I said that I might have broke my nose. Then I felt it!! (in disbelief) It was smashed to one side! NO WAY! Then there was a ton of blood and everything was shifted to getting the kids out of the pool and me to the hospital. What a spoiler!

So that was Sunday. Its now Thursday and I've been lying low, taking the week off, healing. Annette's been extrodinarily helpful getting me to both Urgent Care for the initial stitches - 7, and then to the specialist on Monday to get the nose reset. Poke! Snap! Ouch! All in about 20 minutes. It was broken in 3 places. The swelling's been going down and there's a little color around my eyes, though much less than I really expected. Some of Annette's herbs I attribute to this.

Feeling a little more pluck, I decided to test my ability to exert myself by a bike ride to and from Santa Cruz (about 12 miles roundtrip by road and an elevation difference of about 700 feet. On Tuesday I'd done a 2 mile walk and had felt some exhaustion and head weariness. But cabin fever was setting big time I had some errands to run in Santa Cruz. Plus there was Annette's new (via a yard sale) mountain bike. It was exactly like the mtb I have, only this one's a size smaller (and thus lighter!) and 3 years older. It was a great score at the yard sale. And should worse, come to worse, there's the public bus that runs from SC to Felton, so I was covered if I'd done too much.


Learned a lot of new things about the local geography, history, and demographics - returning via the train tracks was gradual with an incredible view!! And the bike was well up to the challenge, as I was. I did walk up a few steep parts and took a couple breaks but now I'm feeling more like getting back to solarizing the South Bay! (really?) I have been enjoying writing some over the last couple days.

Hope you're all doing well....