My Fall Last August

I took these photos yesterday morning before I walked the yard to clean up dog stuff. I didn't wear a coat in the 39° weather, it felt that warm. It had been days since I had been outside since I started tv binging on Netflix last Sunday. I know that might sound weird, strange or whatever but I'm retired. Time has no meaning. Just like now, I have been at my computer for almost three hours (3.5 hours by the time I finished this post) reading my daily stuff. It doesn't matter. That was my new 2022 policy and so far after 30 days it has worked very well. So I am going to tell a story between these photos today.

Last night while reading Yahoo News the news about Bob Saget's cause of death made me click the link and think back to my fall last August. I was taking the dogs outside in the middle of the early morning. For those readers that don't know the story, you can read about it here. The article last night though was eye opening for me and made me ask the question I have asked myself too many times ... "why me" ???

That could have been me when I fell and hit the back of my head on large kitchen tile, hard enough to knock me out. When I came conscious Walter was bouncing around me barking non-stop. I was very confused and didn't know not only what had happened but I had no clue where I was and who's house I was in. Living alone with a history of rarely going to a doctor, made me decide to go back to bed after the dogs came back inside from their short middle of the night trip outside. I knew at the time since my head had cleared up, going back to sleep was NOT the thing to do but I didn't want to stay awake ... "things will be okay".

Then this morning I find this article, and was a little anxious as I clicked the link, just to see how close I was of dying. I am serious when I say that because I could have very easily based on how hard I fell and hitting the back of my head just like Bob Saget did. I knew I should have gone to the hospital to get a scan. Cost was not an issue as I am covered with Medicare and Tricare For Life. But I didn't have anyone lined up to take care of my dogs. If by some strange reason they would keep me over night the dogs were screwed. Yes, that did play a factor in my decision.

It was good to read near the end of the article this morning that since I survived those first two to three hours, I was in the clear for the worst case scenario. Although in following weeks I did have short periods of strangeness from that fall. I did take it very easy to get back to normal activity, like mowing the yard. Walking to the mailbox was done with caution at first.

Besides the initial confusion I had when I came conscious, I did not have any of the other symptoms the doctor talks about in the article. That was another reason I did not follow up with a visit to the doctor. One other reason was my past experiences with head injuries. There have been more than I want to count in my life. I won't list all of them but there were two major car wrecks where I was knocked unconscious. Then this fall makes three. A few others in my younger years that I will not mention. Every one of those incidents my head took a hard hit or I was knocked unconscious. 

So that is why I asked "why me" when these accidents happen unexpectedly. Why do I keep surviving these accidents when others don't? I have never come up with an answer. Old friends always say that I am like a cat with nine lives and I am coming too close to the number nine. We laugh about it and move on like nothing happened. I haven't laughed about them when thinking alone about them, but always move on from them.

So everything turned out oaky with the head injury I had in August. The Bob Saget news though gave me pause to think and wonder why.

The hounds and the dog play like this outside no matter what the temperature is. Single digits or near a 100°, it does not matter. 

The only problem I have to figure out this Spring and Summer is, how to keep the backyard from flooding. Where do I dig the trench, lay drainage pipe to divert the water? Neighbors have told me a previous owner installed a French Drain System around the house. I have a pump in the crawl space that I hear turn on at times. I have some spouts in the yard for that pumping system. But the French Drain goes all the way around the house I am told.

So why all the water in the backyard when there is heavy rain or melting snow? Is it an underground water flow from the field in back of the house? My neighbors on each side of me do not have a flooding problem. Or is there a spring under my backyard? If there was, the yard would be wet in the middle of the summer but it wasn't. I am also the highest piece of property in this part of the neighborhood. So I have something to figure out this Spring and have added that to my "to do" list.

Walter really does get into the playing action. He sounds like he is going to kill Watson or Henry when he is involved with this wrestling. Plus, he can hold his own even if he is much smaller. He is one strong dog.

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I see now I should have moved this table into the garage for the winter. The extreme cold temperatures have tore out the colored tile. I will apply some kind of sealant over those parts to keep it from getting worse. Any suggestions you have are welcomed.

I look out the patio door yesterday to check on Watson and see him having a good time chewing "something". He wasn't just chewing on his beloved yard grass, so I headed out to see what it was. So the million dollar question of the day is ... "Where did a sea shell come from and where did he find it"???? I am guessing it was mixed in with the rocks in the area between the old part of the house and the great room.

I found out after I moved in the photos on the online sales ad were from when the seller bought the house two years prior to me buying it. No, in fact I found out after the house inspector sent me his large report with his photos different than some of the photos the sales ad showed. That is the chance you take when you buy a house online, 1,720 miles away, without walking through it. I am not the only one that buys a house that way. I always asked myself what the worse case scenario would be before I buy it. Well in this house it is just the time and paint to paint a few rooms and the doorways.

I didn't see these marks inside the kitchen walkway until yesterday. I also don't know what kind of primer and paint they use but I am beginning to think it was on the cheaper side. There are also some other doorways that are showing a rusty color coming through the paint where they nailed the trim. So another thing added to my "painting list". I prefer to paint inside the house in the spring or summer, where I can open the windows for ventilation and a better way for the paint to dry.

It's looking like a busy spring and summer this year.

That is about all I have for this post. It is sunny though and that means another great day in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.