It has been one of those on-the-phone days, talking with sons, grandchildren and friends, everyone concerned about Sarah. Today I got to speak with her, what a blessing!
She sounded amazingly good considering the multiple broken bones. She even made jokes, telling me, "I probably won't be coming next week!"
What I have learned is her group was traversing a difficult piece of terrain between peaks 2 and 3 of the Ten-Peak Trail. The trail requires good technical skills, which she has. But a rock She was using as a handheld pulled loose, sending her tumbling 300 feet down the mountain. Her friends managed to get down to her, and one, an Emergency Medical Technician, was able to give the correct temporary care. A regular life-flught helicopter would not be able to get to her, so the Army National Guard sent a Blackhawk helicopter, lowered a medic with a Guernsey, and she was airlifted up into the helicopter.
They then took her to a local hospital for triage and transfer to the life-flight helicopter for the trip to a Denver hospital. She has about 11 broken bones, including several around her face, but there was no brain damage. It truly is a miracle. Recovery will be long, I think, but she should be back to regular physical activity in time.
Meanwhile, I am considering making a list of alternative sports for her to replace hiking, mountain biking, skiing, rock climbing and rafting on the Colorado. I'm thinking putt-putt golf, paddleboarding in a pool, maybe a stationary bike, running in place, and ping-pong! Nice and safe!
Oddly enough, my son Aaron has also been riding in helicopters, but his are safe flights to his work destination: an oil drilling platform in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. His job takes him to unusual places, like a Navy ship, Microsoft headquarters, the Smithsonian, the Montreal light rail project, a Florida bay that shelters manatees, even a nuclear power plant. I don't know exactly what he does , except it has to do with regulating temperatures that must remain constant at all times. He sent me this video of landing at his current job site:
And to get back to my normal, humdrum life, open mic was fun as usual. This week we had storyteller Francene Kirk.
We had a full house once again, as Fran mesmerized the audience with a couple West Virginia ghost stories. I knew both, but it is always interesting to hear another teller's version, as they often have a completely different take on the story. The Greenbrier Ghost is our most famous ghost story, one I have often told, and I even wrote a ballad about it and visited the grave of our "ghost" and some of the sites where the story took place. Fran's version was very different from mine, so I really enjoyed listening to it.
Today, in between phone calls and texts, we went to our Ravenswood booth to restock. I could only take a few photos before my phone battery died. No surprise, given much use it got in the morning! But we did get a little work done there, and it was good to get my mind off things. I also firmed up our open mic featured artist for November 3, and began searching for a November 15 presenter. So a few things marked off the to-do list, which is always good.
Tomorrow Larry goes to the VA in Huntington, but this time a friend is going with him, and I will stay home and maybe make some pickled peppers and clean house. As I said, back to humdrum. And I am okay with that.
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