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Sunday, August 11, 2013

Forty is the new seventy


Two weekends.  Two lakes.  Two very different outcomes.

The first, I was leaping from rocks, flying through the air with the grace of a young Greg Louganis, the first time his mother threw him into the pool and told him to swim or die.  (What?  It obviously worked out OK.) 

The second was much more sinister, much more sobering.  It is the second I want to focus on today.

I had just woken up from my second nap of the day.  It was a hard nap, where you wake up feeling like someone must have walloped you in the face with an iron skillet.  So I was admittedly a bit groggy as I made my way down the pier to the mini-catamaran of which I've become so fond.

There is a 3-to-4-foot step from the edge of the pier to the watercraft.  I've made it several times with no problem.  But on this day, something went horribly wrong.

A misstep, or a slip, or maybe someone pulled the watercraft slightly away at the last second.  We may never know for certain.  But in an instant, I was in the water.

My life flashed.  This couldn't be the real end, could it?  I mean, I had so much left to do.  I still haven't gotten to experience my full-on mid-life crisis!  That was undoubtedly going to spawn some killer blog entries, not to mention some great prescription meds! 

Clinging to the edge of the vessel for dear life, I began to take inventory of my faculties.  Silently, I cursed myself for so foolishly throwing away all those Scooter Store mail-outs.

So many questions ran through my head. Who would take care of me?  Could I still play Words With Friends?   What was my last Facebook status?  The latter is important because whenever someone dies tragically the news story always includes the line, "He had just posted on Facebook two days ago.... blah blah blah."

(If you're curious, my last Facebook status would have been: "Had a conversation with the neighbor earlier this evening about gout.  I think I may need to scale back.  My life is getting a little too exciting."  OK, so that actually works quite well as a final post.)

Oh, and was I injured?  Yes, yes, there was definite pain emanating from my left hand.  I looked at my hand, one of only two that I have, and there I saw it:  blood.

I could have drowned!  Thankfully, I had already strapped on my life vest.  Also, the water was about four feet deep.  But still, according to the internet it only takes two inches of water to drown a person, so... I could have drowned!  Or worse.

Becoming more aware of my surroundings, I began to hear cries of "Bone!  Bone!  Are you OK???"

I pondered my next move.

Should I boost myself up onto the pier, get up and pretend everything is fine?  Um hello?  Do you think you're watching some movie right now?   I'm not Rambo, or the Bionic Guy.  Also, did I mention I was bleeding???

Plus, if I hop right up it becomes a funny story, with everybody laughing at Bone.  Been there, done that.  If I'm injured, it becomes a sad story.  All I wanted was three or four days of pity, to be waited on hand and foot, and to be regarded by some as a hero.  Is that too much to ask?

Summoning strength uncommon for a person in my situation (and age), I crawled up on the pier and laid on my back, as someone who had just been saved from drowning might be expected to do.  Then waited for someone to come administer first aid.

My feet were hurting.  More specifically, my big toes.  They must have taken the brunt of the force from my one hundred and ninety-, er, eighty-five pounds.

They would wind up purple and blue.  And I'm pretty sure my left big toe is broken.  I must have really banged myself up on the underpinnings of the pier because at one point, I was bleeding out of five different portals of my body.  But those bruises are nothing compared to the deep-tissue contusion suffered by my pride.  For that, my friends, like so many of my emotional scars, will never heal.

How did this happen to me???  I'm Bone!  I once scored 26 points in a church league basketball game!  I keep telling myself 39-year-old me never would have fallen.  But 40-year-old me.... well, apparently he needs to get together a rudimentary last will and testament.

As you might expect, I look at life a little differently these days.  You young whippersnappers who want to go the speed limit, you go right ahead.  I'll be in my over-sized (read: safe) vehicle, cruising into the September of my life at no faster than 35 miles per hour.  In the left-hand lane.  With a perpetual turn signal on.

When you see me, I likely will have just come from the Walgreens where I purchased some hand-grips and no-slip shower mats for the bathroom.

At my age, you can't be too careful.

"People my age / Are showing some wear / There's holes where their teeth was / And their heads have gone bare / Their brains are shrinking / Faces sinking into fat / And as for the mirror / We won't be looking into that..."

19 comments:

  1. Wholy catfight! You act as if you're dying. @@

    Sell this to Petermann.

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  2. haha! Oh, Bone...you made me laugh. Just wait till you're 50! :)

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  3. I find myself talking to young whippersnappers in my car too. But most of the time I am able to afford a bigger car with a far bigger engine than they do so I occasionally give them a run for their money... when it is safe to do so.

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  4. I laughed so hard I cried.

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  5. Renee ~ The lake was angry that day, my friend. Like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli.

    Sherri ~ Laughter is the best medicine. Although Neosporin and Peroxide are good, too, I have found.

    Ed ~ That sounds awfully dangerous :)

    TC ~ You're welcome.

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  6. I was hoping a Pamela Anderson-like female in her Baywatch garb ran to you in slow motion to offer mouth-to-mouth but alas, it doesn't sound like it. Maybe next time!

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  7. Glad the only thing seriously injured is your pride. You might still want to see a doctor about the toe, even though the most they can do is probably put a splint on it.

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  8. Hilarious.

    If anything ever happens to you I will comment on your last FB status and lead the reporters to your blog because we want them to see how truly funny and deep you are--even in four feet of water

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  9. I've always preferred older men. ;0

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  10. Not that I'm in dying-moments scenarios very often, but I've many a time considered journals I'd rather no one read and the last things I've said to certain people... it's never occurred to me to worry about my facebook status before. I'll add that to the list! Thanks ;-)

    Great post, by the way... hope your toes are OK.

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  11. 40 ain't so bad--I was still playing basketball at 40, with college kids (and soon afterwards decided I was getting hurt too much). You should tell us more about your sailing adventures, or do you ever get it away from the dock? Funny story Bone!

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  12. Murf ~ Good thought. Although I was always more of a Summer (Nicole Eggert) guy :)

    Xinher ~ Yeah, that's kinda what I figured. I've always heard there's not much to do for a toe.

    Pia ~ Thank you. And I would appreciate that. I trust you to guide them to my three or four best posts.

    Cooper ~ Thanks for making me smile, even in my brittle state :)

    J Adamthwaite ~ I think everyone should have a friend whose job it is to come over and dispose of such things if the worst should happen.

    Sage ~ I did, actually, earlier in the day. Of course, I kind of rammed into the pier trying to get it docked again. But no one was hurt in that incident. At least, not physically.

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  13. You silly goof. You made me laugh. But I am relieved that you weren't seriously hurt.. aside from the pride.

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  14. OMG....I laughed till tears ran down my leg are the words that come to mind...congratulations on Post of the Week...great choices from Hilary
    This was a doozy...don't worry sonny, it only gets worse from there....
    Sandi

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  15. 60 is a real mind blower!



    ALOHA, Friend
    from Honolulu
    Comfort Spiral
    ><}}(°>

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  16. I'm here from Hilary's. Congrats on your POTW.

    40 - It's only just begun. :) But be thankful that the aging process is very gradual... at least for the next decade. From 40 to 50 wasn't too bad for me. I'm almost afraid of 60 though; my mom told me that's when she broke down - at about 63.

    Thanks for the laugh.

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  17. I'm late to this post and assume that broken toe has stopped throbbing by now...and if not, that the wisdom of age has urged you to drink away the pain.

    Hi, pal. I'm here to always make you feel younger (*the old crone creaked out*).

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  18. I'm late to this post and assume that broken toe has stopped throbbing by now...and if not, that the wisdom of age has urged you to drink away the pain.

    Hi, pal. I'm here to always make you feel younger (*the old crone creaked out*).

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  19. i can't leave the presence of your blog for a moment that you aren't falling into deep troubles. though your story is a funny one i'm glad to hear you weren't seriously injured. hope the toes heals nicely. have a great day~

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