GUESS WHO WAS IN THE HOSPITAL! THE ANSWER MAY SURPRISE YOU (the answer is me)

Ok – I super broke my leg yesterday. I don’t really recommend it. Let me breakdown what happened for you.

9 AM (Four hours to “the incident.”)

I wake up and head downstairs to have breakfast. My leg has no idea what’s in store for it today. It’s just hanging out in my shoe, having a grand old time. Poor, sweet, stupid leg – it really has no clue what’s coming. Debbie and I go over the weather information for the morning. She’s been having some trouble getting accurate readings lately with all of the broken equipment, and this morning is no exception. Debbie isn’t comfortable sending me out into the field alone, she tells me to check in with Scott.

10 AM (Three hours to “the incident”)

I drop by Scott’s office, he pulls up his weather feed and decides that I’ll be fine out in the field, he marks a few places on my map. I pack up Frosty’s cameras and take off.

10:30 AM (Two and a half hours to “the incident”)

I get a little lost. Normally when I’ve got somewhere to go I’ve got Frosty with me (although his directions can be a little less than helpful sometimes – he’s the kind of guy who will tell you you’re going the wrong way, but then offers no follow up information about what the right way could be.) but this time I was on my own. Since I can’t drive and look at a map at the same time, and because the GPS unit was being really weird I decided to stop by Ma ‘n Pa’s for directions.

11 AM (Two hours to “the incident”)

Pa gives me some tips on how to get to the spots Scott marked on my map. Pa’s a little strange about giving me directions to the storm. I don’t think he approves of people heading into stormy weather, which makes sense to me now.

11:30 AM (One and a half hours to “the incident”)

I may have spent some time playing the arcade game at Pa’s place. I also may have set the high score. 

12 PM (One hour to “the incident”)

I arrive at my first location. The storm is really starting to get bad.

That bad. That’s noon up there!

I start shooting pictures. The wind is so over-the-top-crazy at the top of the hill that I head for lower ground so I can keep the camera steady. I’m starting to really get into taking pictures. I’m following the movement of the storm and looking for a good vantage point to take a few shots. Things are going pretty great.

12:55 (Roughly five minutes to “the incident.”)

It starts to hail. Then it starts to Hail. Then it starts to HAIL! I decide to run back to the car. Just then a piece of hail the size of baseball crashes down less than a foot away. I decide that this is no time for casual running - this is the time for full-out-crazy-arm-flail-running. So I do that.

12:57 (Roughly two minutes to “the incident”)
There’s the car! I jump in – but it won’t start. The car is broken! It’s a car tragedy! I can’t get the windows back up – hail is flying into the car. There’s an old barn across the field from where I am - I decide to make a break for it.

12:58:48 (2 seconds to “the incident.”)
There’s the barn! I’m running really fast now – I’m at the top of the hill, seconds away from the barn. Things are looking good. I take a step and slip -

12:58:50 (The Incident!)
I’m airborne. I have just enough time to think “I am almost certain that this is going to be its own special kind of bad.” I land on my leg in just the wrong way, and suddenly I couldn’t care less about the hail.

After a few solid minutes of self-pity, and feeling a little jealous of my friends who have “boring” internships, I crawl over to the car and call the homestead for help. In a few minutes Debbie is there, and I’m off to the hospital.

I’m going home tonight to get some rest the weekend, and we’ll be deciding if I’ll be able to return to the homestead this season Monday.

Wish me luck!