Accidents

It only takes a moment or brief absence of paying attention to have an accident. When you live remotely with the nearest medical help an hours drive away it pays to always be cautious and careful. The line on my hand was an injury that I received many years ago but it displays how quickly an accident can happen. We were still living in Harrisburg, PA, and fortunately had a walk in emergency facility only a few blocks from our house. We could be there in minutes and now it can take up to an hour which is why we are especially careful now but accidents still happen.

We had purchased some ski poles that were army surplus and when they arrived the baskets which are now mounted on the poles were separate from the poles and had to be put on the poles. They had a tiny hole and I could see no way to push them onto the poles. I put a little Vaseline in the holes thinking they would expand and slide on. I had the pole upside down and was pushing the basket on which required a lot of strength and effort and the basket slipped off and the sharp end of the pole entered my hand at the heel where indicated above and then went along and through my hand  as the line indicates. The point ended up at the base of my little finger.

I remember standing there with the pole sticking out of my hand thinking to myself that was a dumb move. I went ahead and pulled the pole out of my hand and went downstairs to show Carol and then on to have it checked out by medical personnel. It turned out to be a minor wound and not painful at all but it could have been more serious if the pole had not been tapered like it was. It only takes a moment of carelessness, inattention or a bad decision and you can be seriously injured. I was fortunate in that it was not painful, did no permanent damage and no infection set in. All I have is a little piece of scar tissue at the heel of my hand which is a long time reminder of how easily these accidents can happen which is why I'm now posting this.

When I got back home I was a little smarter because I took the basket out to the deck and placed the tiny hole over a crack between boards and drove the pole through the hole that way. They went in easy that way. Who knew.......