Physical feats
Boy licks his elbow ... sort of; twins finish Dublin marathon
By JUDY JENKINS, Gleaner Columnist
January 16, 2003
As 9-year-old Jacob Sauer recently proved to me and some other spectators at a Saturday ABA basketball game at South Heights Elementary School, those Internet "facts" aren't always factual.
At least the one about it being physically impossible for a person to lick his elbow isn't quite accurate, (though it apparently is for the general population).
That subject, you may recall, was part of my Jan. 3 wrap-up column of topics I'd collected during 2002. It was included with valuable information such as: "In the course of an average lifetime, while sleeping, you eat 70 assorted insects and 10 spiders."
The elbow-licking challenge saw folks all over the county happily sacrificing their dignity in an attempt to prove they were the exception to the rule. If anyone succeeded, they didn't let me know.
The day after that column ran I was at South Heights for grandson Dalton's game and Jacob was sitting down front on the bleachers. The game hadn't yet started and Jacob apparently was bored, because he casually drew his left leg up and placed his left foot behind his head.
I turned to his aunt Nancy Hamilton next to me and said, "I'll bet HE can lick his elbow." Nancy promptly urged him to try, and Jacob -- with no visible strain -- managed to lick the side of his elbow. True, he couldn't reach the tip of the elbow, which may be what the Internet information was referring to, but the double-jointed youngster came close.
His mom, Jennifer, tells me he's always been able to move his limbs in angles that would cripple most of us. She also said she and Jacob's dad, Matt, both tried the elbow thing and failed. "I said, 'I can do this!'" Jennifer laughed. "But I can't."
Nor could my lovely and sophisticated junior high history teacher, who reports she attempted it, "and couldn't come within five inches of my elbow." She also related she's likely going to have back surgery soon.
I just hope the operation isn't related to the elbow-licking effort.
