Crash

While I was talking to Mom (sharing the big news) I heard a terrible sound--the sound of a vehicle smashing into something. We live on a very bad, blind almost-180-degree curve and there have been lots of accidents.

I put the phone in my purse (with my camera), grabbed a bottle of water, and Zippy and I climbed the ridge to scout things out. It probably wasn't wise since I've had some kind of flu for a couple of days, but you don't hear a sound like that and not check it out.

I couldn't see anything from the top of the ridge, so we slid down to the driveway and walked to the road. Somewhere between the top of the ridge and the driveway the phone fell out of my purse. Oh well. I don't feel well enough to climb back up to look for it. It wasn't the cell phone; we don't have any service here anyway. I'd brought the phone in case I needed to call 911. While I was out climbing, Tom's daughter had called, so the house phone signal reached that far.

Sadly, a bunch of people from the DC area were out motorcycling the area and one had somehow lost control and flipped over the guardrail and way down the hill. He was caught against a cedar tree; his bike was not in sight. It must have continued way on down; the state trooper was climbing around taking photos. There were two rescue squads with paramedics working on the poor man; they'd gotten bags of ice around him (I couldn't see if it was his head or feet, but there was lots of blood) and were talking to him, finding out if he had any medical conditions, what prescriptions he took, had he lost consciousness. He said he hadn't; if it were me, I'd have been out and not planning to wake up any time soon. He was in great pain.

His friend stood next to me and told the story. They'd stopped in town less than a mile away and eaten pizza, then got back on their bikes to continue the trip. He said that as he came around the bend, he could see dust everywhere, then realized that his friend had wrecked. Poor guy could hardly talk. The injured cyclist's helmut was halfway down the hill; I don't know if it had come off or if the paramedics had tossed it there. They were strapping him to a backboard when I left. (The state trooper shooed us away.)

I hope that the poor man is okay. I can still hear bangs and crashes from that area; our driveway is dead in the middle of that awful curve, and the two ridges funnel the sounds right up to the house. People are still talking. I haven't heard the rescue squad leave yet.

That's the first accident there that I've actually "witnessed". About a year ago, a man hit a bear just around the corner, but we weren't home. Took out the bear, and the man wasn't expected to walk again. His son was just bruised, but evidentally the man wasn't wearing his seat belt and was thrown out. He's actually doing well now, still wearing braces, but he's walking.

So, is it worth it for me to go back out and look for the phone? No, I didn't think so either.