Living one day at a time...

First of all - I need to apologize for not updating the blog. This is one of the things that I find particularly troublesome - that is - finding time to actually "blog" about stuff. When I read other blogs and they are so creative and full of information and so on - what really impresses me are those people that are consistant in posting. Either - they have a lot to say and time to say it - OR - they just don't lead busy lives. For me - its the busyness of life that gets in my way.

Ok - so on to todays picture. This one comes from 1998 - November to be exact. As you can tell from the picture, I was in a bad car accident. In West Virginia of all places! To answer your question of "what happened" - I'll try to keep this brief. Bottom line - myself and two of my friends were driving down to Orlando to go to an academic conference (American Schools of Oriental Research if you must know). On the way I got tired and asked my friend Debra to drive for a bit while I got some shut-eye. Well - next thing I know we are spinning in the air and I end up half outside the back of the car unable to feel my legs. Obviously everything worked out fine - but it was a harrowing experience that brought the three of us together to be friends for life.

Its amazing what you remember and dont remember about trumatic events. What I do remember is being thankful to be alive - I remember Debra crying thinking that she had killed us - I remember Steve being all proud of himself for holding on to the music tape we were listening to - I remember the cab driver (ex Viet Nam vet) who was using an old YooHoo container as a spitoon - I remember being taped to the body board and riding in the ambulance - etc etc. What I don't remember is how it felt to be completely helpless. I don't remember the pain. I don't remember the cost of replacing the vehicle. And so on. One thing that I do remember that I'll never forget...is the sound of crunching metal. Any of you who have been in an accident - you know what I am talking about.

Until next time...STAY THIRSTY!