bouncing back from my fall
Thank you for your comments and concern about my fall. I likely got more
attention than usual because of the recent publicity for “127 Hours”. The
dizzy spells have dissipated, the bumps are debumping and the bruise is
getting smaller. Now it looks like Prince Edward Island.
That is not my longest fall. I quickly descended about 30 feet once when I
was painting the second floor of a house. The owners had painted the easy
level. I borrowed some scaffolding and a ladder and set to it. It went well
until I got to the attic dormers on the final side. I was too cheap to rent a
ladder long enough to safely reach them, so I put the ladder I had on the
scaffolding. Dumb. Ill-advised. Willfully ignorant. At best a premise for
a slapstick comedy bit.
It actually worked for awhile until I stretched to paint the highest peak.
The rig collapsed like Lehman Brothers. Fortunately, the ladder pushed
over the scaffolding as it veered off. I had time to position my hands and
feet for a four-point landing. That became a five-pointer when I hit the
ground. I deployed my face for additional weight distribution.
To top things off, literally, the paint can then fell on my head. All this
happened in a town less than 100 miles from Buster Keaton’s birthplace.
I’ve felt a kinship to him ever since.
This is not the biggest three-second mistake I’ve ever made. That took
place in Marine Corps boot camp when I said to my platoon sergeant
“perhaps the drill instructor is mistaken”. I didn’t know at that point
that drill instructors have an infallibility comparable to the Pope’s. I
don’t remember all that followed, but my fellow recruits told me that
choking was prominently involved.
Let’s put my plunge into perspective. Adam Potter of Glasgow recently
fell 1000 feet and was found standing up, looking at a map. He lost his
footing on the eastern slope of Sgurr Choinnich Mor near Ben Nevis.
Potter told BBC Scotland “my speed gathered pace rather quickly” and
“I was just wanting to stop, really.” I love United Kingdom understatement.
He added that “there was no life flashing in front of my eyes.” Same for me.
And if it doesn’t happen in a 1000-foot fall, I think I’ll stop losing my footing.
Too bad. There were some days in the 60’s I wanted to relive.
