Date: 2004-02-15
To: The Vampire Tree
Miles today: 0.0

This is being done on the pocketmail and sent to the sister who will be my transcriber. (OK -I'm a month late uploading. vewy, vewy busy ...)Life is full of surprises. I've been forced to sit down, compare and tweak my mail drops against the Wingfoot Handbook information. I think I have my final schedule. When I have both hands, I'll type it in.You ask, "When I have both hands?"Last week, I went out on one of my training walks. It was a beautiful, cold, rainy weekday. I thought about Sgt. Taco, Stanimal, Peanuts and Pickle. The fact that with my scheduled 10 mile/day average, I don't have the luxury of not walking if it¢s only cold and rainy. So, I filled the Platypus and drove out to the park. The ranger told me I was one of five nuts in the park in the rain.I had an appointment to have my taxes done, so I was planning to only do the three mile loop. Lucky me. When I had been out Sunday, every fifty feet, I would run into people out on the trails. Tuesday afternoon, cold and rainy, I figured I would have the trail to myself. The problem occurred about a mile onto the trail, when I heard a loud CRACK. I recognized it as the sound of tree fall. Quick look around to find someplace to run was too long. The tree fell on me. I stood there for a flash moment. I knew I had been hit. Looking down, I saw that my jacket sleeve had a rip and my right arm was numb. I rolled up the sleeve and just as quick I rolled it down, grabbed the elbow and put it over my head. A quick mental scan told me the shortest trip was to backtrack. As I was going back to the trailhead, I ran into a young man walking down the trail. He asked if I was okay. Hey, how many people walk in the woods clamping their elbow over their heads? I told him what happened and he escorted me back to the trailhead. He followed me to the parking area where we got my pack off, when he and I realized my injury would not allow me to drive. He ended up driving me the nearest ER 20 minutes away and waited in the ER with me until Paul came. I got seen by triage before Paul showed up. The nurse was like Oh My God! My Trail Angel just blanched. I thought it was pretty ugly. The ER doc got called in. He made me wiggle my fingers, twist my wrist, bend and unbend my elbow. He looked at the wound and announced he could fix me up. That was good news. And I knew he could. He was the doc who sewed back my thumb four years ago when I had a run in with an exacto blade.Paul showed up and Will (my angel) went on his way. When I got called in for a bed, Paul went in with me. When the doc peeled off the temporary Band-Aid, Paul excused himself. The good doc took nearly an hour to stitch all the inside tissue and then stitch the skin back over the whole mess. Because of the internal stitching, he put me in a splint locking my arm in ninety degree. And of course, it's my right arm. I'm typing this not only on my pocketmail, but I'm doing it with my left hand! And boy is it getting tired.All I've been able to do is read or watch TV. So, I went over my last version of my mail drops. I figure what I have will do. I'll average about 10 miles a day. I'm scheduled to summit Katahdin October 2. It looks like a slow and leisurely trip.Now, I'm reading all of the official guides to figure out what and if I want them along too. I really like the way the Mass-Conn book is laid out. I've read the Wingfoot book. Without a doubt, it comes long.So, this has gotten me really itching to go, reading my way north. It's forced me to do the more tedious and boring part of planning. I'm ready...except for sewing my longjohn bottoms. The stitches come out Wed. Then I can get back to the sewing. And the leftover drying. And redo the guy lines on my tarp (longer).One more month. I suppose at this time, I can start counting the days. Namaste'