Donnie...alive and well in the North Country

Tuesday, July 28, 2015
I’d put the air conditioner on Sunday and now I was really, really happy about it.  The high reached into the low 90’s, which is about thirty degrees over my ideal and way too hot for working outdoors…or painting…two things I had scheduled for the day.  I did the working at the farm and told the person for whom I was planning to start staining a handicapped ramp that it would have to wait.

I received a voicemail from my cousin Donnie, who had recently been in a pretty serious motorcycle accident and had just been laying low and resting his brain, which had blood on it.  “I’m on Giant.  Where the hell are you?  The spandex looks great from up here,” he said.  He realized early on that one of the great benefits of going to the Adirondacks is seeing very fit women in climbing clothes.  I called him back.

“I’m guessing you won’t be joining me in the Adirondacks this weekend,” I said. 

“And I won’t be making a trip to Ohio in two weeks, either,” he said.  He was still in a lot of pain, but recovering.  He described the malfunctioning of the braking system on his motorcycle and the ensuing crash at 45 mph.  “I guess I’m kind of lucky to be alive,” he concluded.

My son, Jason, had recently bought a motorcycle and it had gotten me to thinking about it again.  I’m pretty sure Donnie’s accident will keep me on the sidelines…or on the non-motorized two-wheelers for a little longer.

“Are you up to a visit?  I could swing through after climbing Saturday and sleep over.  You could probably use a good smoothie and some French toast, too,” I said.  Well…maybe I thought the last part, but he loves my French toast slathered in maple syrup and butter, but who wouldn’t?

I’m hoping for a workout tomorrow when LuAnn and Kristen come over for a Survival Workout and a pasta/movie night.  We’ll be watching ‘Frequency’ and eating spaghetti with garlic toast.  It’s supposed to be in the nineties again, so I’m not so sure a hard workout would be the best way to spend the afternoon, but it would be a good chance for them to see my course and we could always finish with a dunk in Clear Creek.  Two days left for the heel to heal.