[rick-in-seattle]

Carving on the beach is one of my favorite pastimes; the soothing sound of waves breaking on the shore is good for what ails you. I needed soothing, the bandages covered large parts of my arms, hands and face; I was definitely ailing.

I swear there was the sound of giggling in her voice as she drove me to the emergency room. My wife has an odd sense of humor; I didn’t find it funny at all, painful yes, funny no.
Sure, I was getting a bit old to replace roofs by myself, but I was born stubborn if not competent. All was going well and I was making good progress until I stepped on that loose cedar shingle. The last time I experienced that rush, I was riding the hammer at the carnival.

Red cedar can leave some serious slivers in your hide when used as a ski jump. That being the least of my worries, the fall was nearly eighteen feet from the gutter to the ground; but even that wasn't what concerned me most. It was the blackberry bushes rising five feet above the ground that had me leaving ten grooves in the roofing.

Actually falling into blackberry vines is quite easy, they even help break your fall; extricating oneself from their grasp is the hard part. For the uninitiated, wild blackberry vines are similar to rose bushes except with more thorns and less flowers.

The doctor was at least sympathetic to my plight; he apologized several times for laughing as I told my story; unlike my wife who was holding her sides and between the laughter gasped; “Stop, Stop, no more please�.

So you can understand why I ended up on the beach with my carving knife and a piece of wood, I needed some time alone to lick my wounds. I received several long looks from passersby who obviously took an interest in what I was carving.

One child in particular was awestruck watching me deftly remove chips from the block.
She stood staring at me for nearly five minutes, mesmerized by my carving skill.
Finally I looked up from my whittling and asked “so, what do you think?�

The little girl looked me over real good and said “mister, I think you need a hobby that doesn’t involve knives�

[Paul_Guraedy]

Rick, I think you should turn your beach encounter into a caricature carving. It is the extreme of trying to verify to your carving friends that a non-carving related injury was in fact just that.

Look at it this way, your pain and more importantly the indignity of it all is making the day for carving friends all over the world.

[Irish]

Oh Rick! FOTFLOL!

You aught to sumbit that one to WCI. I think every carver would enjoy this version of "the other side of carving".

Great story!

Susan

[Callynne]

Oh Rick, I'm so glad you didn't get seriously injured or killed......and since you didn't.....I'm laughing my butt off right now!

I totally agree with Goody, you have to make a carving of it, better make two of them, because I can SO see one of you, hanging by your fingertips from the edge of the roof, claw marks down the shingles and the wicked thorns of the blackberry vines waiting to welcome you! Funny, funny, funny! Deborah

[Ron Davidson]

Rick I know the feeling. I skied on cedar shingles one time also but didn't land on blackberry vines I landed on a horse. I felt so embarrassed that I didn't know I was hurt until I took a step and fell on my face. I had broken my hip it sounded like a gun going off when it separated. Now I have a nice steel pin that reminds me when I go through airport security. Glad you didn't receive any serious injuries. I agree with Goody it would make a good subject. BTW I sent you some work yesterday hope you can still do them.
Ron

[jillsy]

Coming from an Irish background where a good funny story is as well-loved as potatoes (and beer for some), I can really appreciate this story! I thought I was having a bad morning until I read this-thanks for the laugh!

ps This should definitely be submitted into Readers Digest! Hope you're feeling better.

[Hisart]

Thanks Rick!
I really needed that! ROFL

Was this a recent event or a blast from the past? Either way I'm glad you're okay!

[whitecree]

And I thought I was the only one that had days like that...

[JerryH]

Rick, glad you are okay except for your broken pride. I read the story twice and I am still laughing so hard my ribs hurt!
Jerry

[Thor]

Wonderfully written account of a bad day. Thanks for allowing us to enjoy the humor of it.
Glad you're ok.
When are you gonna write a book?
There's talent there as well.
Thor