A few years ago I was involved in a freak hammock accident. People laugh when they first hear that, but it really is a true story. It was early summer 2007 and I was hanging out with some friends in their back yard. They had a hammock strung securely up between two trees, and two of us climbed in and laid down while the other gently pushed us back and forth as we enjoyed the warm summer breeze. Then she started pushing us higher like the hammock was a giant swing. We were having a great time, but then it went bad.
Whatever it was that had secured the hammock to the tree broke, and we went flying away head first. We were up on a little landing (I guess that's the right word for it?) and went soaring in the direction of the drop off. When it was all over we'd flown about six feet over and had fallen about six feet down onto hard concrete.
The girl in the hammock with me was a dancer and I guess her reflexes kicked in. She kind of rolled when she hit the ground and was immediately back up on her feet. I, on the other hand, landed flat on my back and had the breath knocked out of me. It took a few seconds for it to come back and was kinda scary. I tried to tough it out, but after a couple of weeks my back still hurt and my chest had started to also. I ended up getting x-rays which said I was fine, but my back kept hurting pretty bad for about a month.
Whatever it was that had secured the hammock to the tree broke, and we went flying away head first. We were up on a little landing (I guess that's the right word for it?) and went soaring in the direction of the drop off. When it was all over we'd flown about six feet over and had fallen about six feet down onto hard concrete.
The girl in the hammock with me was a dancer and I guess her reflexes kicked in. She kind of rolled when she hit the ground and was immediately back up on her feet. I, on the other hand, landed flat on my back and had the breath knocked out of me. It took a few seconds for it to come back and was kinda scary. I tried to tough it out, but after a couple of weeks my back still hurt and my chest had started to also. I ended up getting x-rays which said I was fine, but my back kept hurting pretty bad for about a month.
 | |
| This is the actual hammock. It looks all innocent hanging back there by the pool, but don't be deceived! |
A little before that freak accident I had met the guy that is now the husband. We didn't really know each other that well yet and were testing out the friend waters, although he wanted it to be more. He kept asking me out for friendly activities, and I repeatedly had to decline because of my back. At first he didn't buy any of it and totally thought I was just blowing him off because I didn't want to hang out. Then he came over to watch The Office one night and saw me all pitiful and in pain after work lying on the couch with an old lady heating pad. Attractive, right?
On another Office night I had a cold and he came over with soup and cranberry juice and even brought my cat some treats. How sweet he was! For some reason I didn't drink the juice right then but later used it as a mixer for a lovely alcoholic beverage when I was all better. I remember him not appreciating that so much. The soup was good though.
A few months after the hammock incident I was at a local festival with some friends, and three of us were sitting on a wide bench-type swing. Another person came to sit on one of our laps, and then we started gently swinging. After a few seconds I started to get paranoid. I kind of thought out loud and said "I'm having a little hammock flashback." The very moment the guy sitting next to me finished remarking "Aw, don't say that", the chain broke on one end and we all ended up on the ground. That guy ended up bruising his leg pretty bad. It totally wasn't my fault, but I felt really bad the rest of the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment