A Tale of Two Ribs

It Was The Best of Weeks - It Was The Worst of Weeks. It was a week of enlightenment, it was a week of foolishness - in short, much like the present week as I am still capable of participation in both the light and darkness of the week past. Sunday started out as a banner day - it was the first day of my vacation and it came at just the right time as we had recently finished a particularly hellish 2 week period of time at Orlando International Airport trying to get passengers to their destinations in the wake of extreme weather in the northeast. This was my first Sunday singing in our church choir (my work schedule changed allowing me the spiritual luxury of doing the church gig on Sunday for once) and it went without a hitch. We had practiced some pretty crankin' tunes for a sleepy 9 AM service in a Baptist church, so many hearing aids in the congregation were reset at 1 or 2, at least until the sermon started. It was the kickoff of 40 days of renewal, so we used part of the afternoon for the bible study corresponding to the first day of the revival. The lesson called for the participant to rely on God's soverignty in spite of the fact that things may not always go our way (a reinforcement of that which is getting us through this long waiting period of Joanna's adoption).
That evening, dinner with some good friends at a favorite restaurant capped off our day.

Monday - no alarm clock - no work - revival - and I had not even opened the study lesson yet! Well, this was to be a honey-do vacation to prepare our home for our 25th wedding anniversary party (originally in September 06, but there was just too much happening in that month and we kept postponing it) scheduled for Sunday, March 4. So, my goal was to get the side yard in shape so that it looked descent for the event - cutting, pruning, weeding and other jobs were on the schedule for the day. The morning's accomplishments included pressure cleaning of the driveway, walkways and porches. After lunch, I began sawing branches and limbs which had gotten a bit out of hand during the winter. Then it hit - while standing on the top rung of my 6' step ladder (not the top platform where it says "Do Not Stand"), the ladder shot out from under me. As gravity manifested itself, I tried to wrap my arms around the tree (gives new meaning to the term tree hugger) but all it did was leave tree rash on the inside of my arms and I hit the ground with a crack (actually 2 cracks) - my ribs - numbers 7 & 8 in the pic......

So ...... relying on God's soverignty ...... His control on the events of our lives ...... this is going to be interesting as the week plays out and I've got all this work to do .......

When I caught my breath and shook the demons out of my head, I thought about those 2 cracks in rapid succession and how familiar they sounded (flashback to 1993 in the Cascade Mountains in east Washington state when I broke my ankle while skiing - the first day of a week long trip - whole other story). So it hurt a bit - and my breathing was being restored - the cuts on the insides of my arms were not bleeding that bad --- so I continued hauling yard debris (as any manly man with no brain would do) until it started to hurt - bad. I felt like a real whimp - doesn't Jack Bauer break a few ribs and then jump out of a plane and save the country when the plane - loaded with a nuke - crashes in the middle of the desert out of harm's way? - 30 minutes later I made the decision to go to the ER - but only after I showered, shampooed and shaved - I was thinking clearly now - after all, they might keep me overnight and who knows when I'd get cleaned up?

I called Be on my drive into the hospital and you can only guess her reaction ---- go ahead, try and guess ----- What????? You think you have broken ribs and you're driving?????
So, I took a breath and thought to myself ----- I wonder what the correct response is?
Actually, Be came up with the correct response and let me off the hook - I'll be right over and meet you in the waiting room.
As I sat in the lobby, in the worst pain I've ever had in my life, my thoughts were directed to those who were in constant pain - all their lives - cronic discomfort with no escape. As well as I could, I prayed for those in the lobby in worse shape than myself - boy did I feel puny! - until I was jarred back into my own reality with another stab to side. Soon, Be appeared through the door illuminated like Roma Downey in "Touched By An Angel" and began her process of distraction therapy. Finally, my name was called, CAT scan proved unremarkable and x-rays revealed the broken ribs - rest and don't do anything - yeah, right - I got a party to throw.
Well Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday proved that I was NOT in control of the situation and I reflected on our study of Sunday afternoon (oy! I'm already 3 days behind!). I acknowledged God's soverignty in the whole thing - but broken ribs? Be took Thursday and Friday off to get some work done and neighbors caught wind of what was going on. Then, on Thursday afternoon, I look out the window and see my neighbor with a bunch of teen agers - weed eaters, edgers and lawn mowers throttled up coming over the small rise that divides our front lawn from the street (cue the "Barn Building" sound byte from the movie "Witness"). Turns out a bunch of the members from Dr. Phillips Wrestling Team were over his house and they had the place done in an hour. Other neighbors and friends from church accomplished pre-planning, set up, planting and food coordination in preparation for Sunday's event.

OK, God - I acknowledge your soverignty but we gotta talk about the rib thing.
Sunday morning arrived and neighbors were out in the yard before I even pulled my sorry self out of bed - ouch! After the finishing touches, table cloths were spread, lights set up, The Harold Blanchard Jazz Quartet was in place, I had some good drugs on board and Jazz on the Porch - 25th Anniversary Edition was in full swing. It began to chill down a bit at around 6 PM and a neighbor set up his portable firepit/cooker and the jazz continued into the evening. I'll share some of our reflections on 25 years of marriage in a future post ....... meantime, enjoy the pics from the event ........ the 50 or so in attendance had been significant in our lives and we were honored that they came out for the event. Here's to family, good friends and neighbors! And someone ----- other than myself ------ Who was in control.

In the pics ........
The front porch all cleaned up and ready for Jazz on the Porch
Don with some of the US Airways gals
Vocalist Suzy Parks
Ron Cangro, drums - Chuck Archard, bass - Harold Blanchard, keys

Jazz on the Porch as the night gets a bit chilly

Be - in her China togs - a Christmas gift from who else? Pic was taken after the neighbors had cleaned up after the party