Near Death Experience

19 March; Somewhere (NOWHERE?) in Kansas --

Speaking of falls, Grumpy took a bad tumble when Hazel and he were visiting our Nephew (cousin of Grumpy's children) near Soldier KS. A bad tornado had hit his place a couple years ago -- just before Mother and I visited him, in fact. 

It folded his metal granary flat! and lifted the "lid" off and flattened that, too; I wanted a picture of the results with me in it for perspective. Anyway, a grain auger, used to lift the grain from a truck into the granary, had been blown down and was lying in the grass near where the granary had been. The drive shaft, a solid steel rod about 5/8" in diameter, was sticking up out of the grass, pointing in my direction and therefore difficult to see with the grass all around. I caught my left foot on it as I stepped to take another step. I was holding a cup of coffee in my left hand, which I didn't want to spill, so I extended my left arm out in front of me as I fell full-body length on my front side. My chest contacted the auger tube, crossing from just below my rib cage on the right side to between my left shoulder and neck -- across the long-healed incision performed when I had my double bypass 10 years ago.

I felt pain in my rib cage -- of course my wind was knocked out -- but as soon as I regained my breath and took stock that nothing seemed seriously damaged, I got up without any problem. Later I found out that my most serious injury was a sharp bruise to my left forearm, just below the elbow, where it apparently contacted a corner edge of the concrete pad on which the granary had stood.

I still (two weeks later) have no black and blue spots, but only a dull ache if someone hugs me too hard -- not that I mind that, thank you; I'll take all the hugs anybody wants to give me!!

But I should watch where I step more carefully from now on; old people have been known to break parts when they fall. I still hope to grow old some day.