I have two cousins - Bob and Pete. They lived on a dairy farm when I was growing up. At some point they started to have horses. It sticks in my mind that both of the boys took riding lessons - no doubt due to their grandmother. Bob was year older than me and Pete was a year younger. Oh and at some point they put an in-ground pool in. So for me it was like going to Disneyland. We had the barn with the cows, the milk room (where the milk ended up after the cows had been milked), pastures, a creek, the swimming pool, the corn crib, the spring house, and their house was a big old farm house. I forgot to mention that their mother was a great cook, and I frequently stayed for dinner. My favorite was the spaghetti dinner and iced tea. Her spaghetti sauce had a really good and unusual flavor and she made her ice tea with orange juice. Like I said - Disneyland!
I am not sure how I old I was when the following happened, and it really is a dumb story. I think I was in late elementary school. I would guess 5th or 6th grade or even going into 7th grade. My cousin Pete and I were walking around the property after we were finished swimming. We walked up and around to the back pasture where the horses (by this time they had two) were. I thought it would be fun to go into the pasture to see the horses up close and personal.
I wanted to walk around and go through the barn and out into the pasture. Pete suggested we climb over the barbed wire fence. Now I was not a farm boy, but I was pretty sure that stepping over, under, or anywhere near to barbed wire was going to hurt - ME - not him he was a farm boy! There was this part of a tree on the inside of the barbed wire fence. You had to step up into a tree (this was the easiest part FYI), step over the barbed wire and onto the other piece of tree trunk and Wahla you were in with the horses.
I was not convinced that this was the best idea for me, as I tended to be on the klutzy or unsteady side. Pete offered to show me how to achieve success without getting hurt. He executed the maneuver wonderfully, but I was still NOT convinced that my own attempt would end as well. I told Pete that I was going to cut my leg on the barbed wire. Pshaw he said to me - that is just silly you will not. I did not mention that by this time both Bob and Pete were taller than me. Just a minor detail I am sure, but my legs are not as long as Pete’s. Pete basically told me I was stupid, and he said watch me and I’ll do it again. Pete repeated his excellence in climbing proving that really anyone could do this with no harm to oneself. I still was not buying it - he might be able to climb over the fence without injury, but I was not going to be so fortunate. Pete demonstrated one more time and then offered to help me across offering his hand to help keep me steady.
Against my better judgement, I climbed up the tree, placed my left leg over the barbed wire, and as I brought the right one over, I slipped, drug my right leg right over a barb and was hanging on the fence. The first thing I said besides shit - was I told you so!!! Pete helped me off the fence. I had a slit up the back of my thigh that was easily 6 inches long. Did I mention blood? Oh my goodness did it bleed. Pete and I thought it would be a good idea to put leaves over the cut to keep me from bleeding to death. Then, with Pete holding leaves on the back of my leg (so yes he kind of had his head behind my butt) we walked up the long driveway towards the house.
We arrived and Pete called his mother. She came out to look at it - I felt like a dope because I said, I knew this was going to happen. Pete’s mother, Dolly, (also my cousin) said that she would call my mother. The trick then was to patch me up so I would not bleed out before my mother arrived. Once my mother arrived, she took me home. On the way home she kind of told me, in a very nice way, that I was an idiot. She called the doctor and got an appt. for later in the day. I got a shot and the doctor cleaned up my leg. No stitches required, just a big bandage. The worst part of the whole incident? I could not visit Disneyland until my leg healed up, which would seem like a life time!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment