Welcome to Doug & Ames' Spot: 2008

After a near-miss on Friday, I found myself reflecting on other times in my life where I found myself in painful (or potentially painful) situations. Here are a few I could remember:

Mom and dad told me that when I was only a few months old, they spotted a tornado out the window. They rushed down to the basement then realized I was still upstairs in my crib. All was well but perhaps an omnimous beginning.

When I was maybe 4 or so, I remember carrying my dad's bowling ball for him after one of his games. At the age of 4, a bowling ball is about the size of a large beach ball. I was carrying it with both arms and couldn't see in front of me. I tripped ober a bowling ball bag and that 15 pounder came full force down on my right ring finger. I remember lots of blood and a cut that seemed to run the entire length of my finger. The scar I have to remember it by still runs about 1/3 down my finger.

About the time I was in 1st grade, I remember being at a farm in Omro, Wisconsin. A relative of my aunt JoAnn, I think. Anyway, I decided I was going to jump on the cellar door connected to the house, like the one in Wizard of Oz that they went in to get away from the fateful tornado. That held me for a few jumps, but before I knew it, I was crashing through and tumbling down into the cellar, bruised and filthy. Nothing broken, just very sore.

In second grade, I went skiing with Brian and Julie. While going the speed of light down a bunny hill, I decided to look behind me and see where Brian was, only to take a major wipe-out. I spun, my feet (aptly secured to my skis) did not. Fractured tibia; leg cast for 6 weeks.

Not more than 2 months or so after I had my cast removed, I was giving some kid and under-dog on the schoolyard swing set. He swung, I guess I didn't get out of the way fast enough and somehow broke my leg again. Same leg, about an inch lower than the previous fracture. Mom doesn't drive and dad was at work. I layed on the playground for what seemed like ages till mom got there and we went to the hospital in the ambulance. The doctor who had put the previous cast on me couldn't believe I was back so quickly. Leg cast for another 6 weeks.

In my middle school days, I remember playing 'war' with a few neighborhood friends. We had gone to Red Arrow Park and were playing in the woods then climbed the mighty Garbage Hill (a key sledding spot on the otherwise very flat Oshkosh, Wisconsin). I got 'shot' and rolled down the face of the hill only to find myself really bleeding. I followed the trail of dripping blood up my arm to my elbow where there was another sizeable gash caused by a broken glass bottle that I rolled over. Six stitches.

I think I was able to avoid noteworthy injury for several years after that. Although the next accident I was to have was one of my worst, albeit I suffered little injury. It was late-December of '92 or '93 and I was in my Nissan pick-up truck following my mom and dad (also Dave & Tari) in my dad's Ford LTD satation wagon. We were headed to my brother Brian'splace in Pine River, WI, about 2 hours west of Oshkosh. I had followed them the whole was, as I was not entirely sure how to get there. It had snoed quite a bit the days prior and the back roads were not plowed, though semi-freqent traffic on the 2-lane highways had cleared off most of the snow. We were about 5 minutes away from Brian and Julie's place when my dad passed a car and went ahead. Wanting to keep up, I also passed said car. However, as I was passing, my truck began to spin sideways. Keep in mind we are going about 60 mph and I have spun around the car we were passing and went backwards down into the ditch on the left side of the road. Once I hit, my truck flipped several times until coming to rest on its wheels. The whole thing was very surreal because I was just holding onto the steering wheel watching the horizon spin around and around. I don't remember getting josteled around or anything. I wasn't wearing my seatbelt (idiot!), no glass was broken but both dors were caved in, the roof was also caved in down to my head, and the back was filled with earth and snow. I don't know how I escaped with my life that day.

Within weeks of joining the Navy, I was treated for a dislocated finger. I was playing 'touch' football with friends from church and I was defending a receiver. He caught a screen pass and I tagged him, except when I did so I jambed my finger. I held up my had and saw my right middle finger was pointing in a very odd direction. If I had been a braver man, I would have pulled it back into place but I left that to the doctor. My knuckle on that finger is still mis-shaped.

Not long after that, maybe a couple months, I decided it would be fun to buy a motorcycle. Kawasaki Ninja EX500. Not super-fast, but enough for a beginner. Within days of my purchase, I was out riding in the winding forest-flanked roads between North Carolina and Virginia. Coming around a corner, I mistook a parked truck on my side of the road for a truck that was coming at me in my lane. I breaked and over compensated my turn. My front wheel snapped to the right and my bike immediately layed flat. At 30-plus mph that made me a human catapault. I remember flying into the woods seeing small trees passed my right and left before I flipped and landed on my back. More damage on the bike than to me, but had some good cuts from it.

Within a year, was up late at a friend's house and finally decided I needed to drive back to the base and get back to my ship. I was super tired and my stereo was broken. I rolled down the window hoping that the cold wind would help keep me awake on the highway. I closed my eyes for a second and was jolted awake by the force of my truck striking the concrete dividing barrier on the highway. It blew out my left front tire and bent the frame of the truck. No injuries, but a very close call. I stayed awake for a long time after that.

That was many years ago and unless I'm forgetting, I have been able to steer clear from injury from that time. However, just yesterday I went ATVing with a few friends at an ATV park (Busco Beach) in Goldsboro, NC. It was my first time operating an ATV, but I picked it up pretty quickly and did well. Half-way through the day, I was following on of my buddies and he decided to tackle a 40ft (maybe higher?) sand hill. He made it to the top and waited on the crest for me. I didn't feel great about it, but thought if he could make it then I could, right? I nearly made it to the top, but stalled just short of the top. I switched to 4WD, but I was already in the rut. I looked backwards and it was a steep decline behind me. I felt like if I leaded too far back, I'd tip over. Very carefully, I put it in reverse and tried to go backwards just enough to et out of the rut and then go the rest of the way up, but as soon as I backed out of the rut I started sailing down the hill backwards and I couldn't stop it. I tried to keep it straight but I hit a bump 2/3 of the way down and all I remember after that is flying off and seeing that 600 lb machine flip out of my sight, then as I hit the base of the sandy hill felt the ATV roll over my legs and behind me. My legs felt like they were on fire and I though for sure I had snapped both of my femurs. I couldn't talk and my legs were visibly shaking. I heard Scott shouting for help and then asking if I was okay. I don't remember answering him, but he told me I answered that I was okay but that my legs hurt. Within a few minutes, however, I was able to bend my legs and I figured they weren't broken. It took some time before I was able to get up and they were shaky for a little while, but within 30 minutes we were all back on our ATV's going around the course and working our way through the wooded trails, although I did not attempt that same hill a second time.

No broken bones (remarkably) from that spill but I'm plenty sore. Enough where I'm more comfortable typing useless blog entries online rather than being out and about being more useful.

Maybe I'll take and Advil and do something really dangerous, like go to the store.