SouthernN'Proud
Southern Discomfort
please forgive the lack of capitalization in this post. the reason will become obvious later.
so i get home from work yesterday and am anticipating a quiet relaxing evening. the kid's at a ball game at the school...who knows what might ''pop up'' in the interrim. allears' helped me bring some firewood up to the porch, and the legendary winds here are howling - 40-50mph easy.
we get back inside, and i'm sitting by the fire warming up. about half an hour passes, and i go to the couch, planning to talk for a few minutes then take a pain pill and help her cook deener. i look in her direction...and see an orange glow out the side window.
my field is on fire. and the winds have increased.
i tell allears'; to call 911, slip on my workboots, and take off toward my shed *opposite direction of the fire* to get shovels and such to beat the flames with. a car or two had already pulled into the yard, and some man i have never seen before runs into the shed with me. as i start back across the yard toward the fire, i fell and almost impaled myself on the shovel point. i landed on the exact spot the pancreatitis hurts the most. it hurt like bloody hell. i had ran out of one boot too. i finally got someone to get my boot, got back up, and started running again. by this time, the wind was snatching burning weeds etc and they were landing in trees, everywhere. one even landed on the roof of our neighbor's house.
at some point, the wind knocked my 240 pound body to the ground, and i fell on my left wrist. i had never broken a bone in my life, but i knew i had now. i couldnt get up because i couldn't put weight on my left wrist, and if i turned over to my right the wind knocked me back over. smoke was gagging me, i didn't know how close to any flame i was, and i was afraid my clothes were going to catch.
i finally get up and start beating the flames again. i noticed some fire fighters then. one kept trying to get me to go to the house so he could check my arm, but i think i was in shock...all i could think about was getting this fire put out no matter what.
eventually, it was put out with *miraculously* no property damage. my field got burned off...that was all.
as we talk with the firemen about what caused it, and rule out various things, they finally say that it had to be a cinder from the chimney that just didn't go out, and got caught in the wind and landed in the field at the wrong spot.
fast forward to the er. i am xrayed and informed that my wrist is not broken. it is shattered.
i'm in a splint past my elbow, and am supposed to see an orthopedist today. sounds like surgery. nifty. happy fucking holidays.
i am tremendously thankful that no one lost a house, that i am not more seriously hurt, and that i live where i do. there had to be fifteen cars in our yard last night, and i might have known three people among them. complete strangers were out in 60mph winds, temps just above freezing, to help someone they don't even know.
all in all, i am one lucky country fuck.
so i get home from work yesterday and am anticipating a quiet relaxing evening. the kid's at a ball game at the school...who knows what might ''pop up'' in the interrim. allears' helped me bring some firewood up to the porch, and the legendary winds here are howling - 40-50mph easy.
we get back inside, and i'm sitting by the fire warming up. about half an hour passes, and i go to the couch, planning to talk for a few minutes then take a pain pill and help her cook deener. i look in her direction...and see an orange glow out the side window.
my field is on fire. and the winds have increased.
i tell allears'; to call 911, slip on my workboots, and take off toward my shed *opposite direction of the fire* to get shovels and such to beat the flames with. a car or two had already pulled into the yard, and some man i have never seen before runs into the shed with me. as i start back across the yard toward the fire, i fell and almost impaled myself on the shovel point. i landed on the exact spot the pancreatitis hurts the most. it hurt like bloody hell. i had ran out of one boot too. i finally got someone to get my boot, got back up, and started running again. by this time, the wind was snatching burning weeds etc and they were landing in trees, everywhere. one even landed on the roof of our neighbor's house.
at some point, the wind knocked my 240 pound body to the ground, and i fell on my left wrist. i had never broken a bone in my life, but i knew i had now. i couldnt get up because i couldn't put weight on my left wrist, and if i turned over to my right the wind knocked me back over. smoke was gagging me, i didn't know how close to any flame i was, and i was afraid my clothes were going to catch.
i finally get up and start beating the flames again. i noticed some fire fighters then. one kept trying to get me to go to the house so he could check my arm, but i think i was in shock...all i could think about was getting this fire put out no matter what.
eventually, it was put out with *miraculously* no property damage. my field got burned off...that was all.
as we talk with the firemen about what caused it, and rule out various things, they finally say that it had to be a cinder from the chimney that just didn't go out, and got caught in the wind and landed in the field at the wrong spot.
fast forward to the er. i am xrayed and informed that my wrist is not broken. it is shattered.
i'm in a splint past my elbow, and am supposed to see an orthopedist today. sounds like surgery. nifty. happy fucking holidays.
i am tremendously thankful that no one lost a house, that i am not more seriously hurt, and that i live where i do. there had to be fifteen cars in our yard last night, and i might have known three people among them. complete strangers were out in 60mph winds, temps just above freezing, to help someone they don't even know.
all in all, i am one lucky country fuck.
