Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Fall down & go boom

Sondra is my oldest and dearest friend from middle school. She lives in the mountains of West Virginia, they own most of the hollow that her house sits on. She has a beautiful place- quiet and peaceful... ahhhh serenity! This was early morning as the sun was just peaking over the mountain ridge.
looking down the hollar
See the steep side of the hill to the right.... and the little shed, it's roof is green.

It's all nice and good till you fall DOWN the hillside of the mountain and break a leg... She was wearing flip-flops and was attempting to walk down the hill beside the garage and tripped and fell- and knew when she was falling, it was not gonna end good. Just on the other side of the green roof is where she fell down.

scene of the fall

Lucky for her, Bill was home at the time and could take her to the hospital, where x-rays showed 2 breaks in one of the bones right above her left ankle... so surgery followed along with a cast, a walker and pain pills. She called me and asked if I was busy, and if I could come and help her out for awhile. SO I got to packing- needed to complete some sewing, so had to pack all that also... and away I went. Off to the mountains for 10 days.

I have always wanted to stop at this rest area, Sideling Hill Rest Stop. It is one of the highest points along my drive, and it is in the westernmost area of Maryland.
Sideling Hill rest stop

see the stairs I nearly had a heart attack on... why do I need to climb these???
Heart attack hill


It was a beautiful day- so with the windows down, I wear a hat...this is me on the top of those stairs (after I caught my breath).
me at Sideling Hill


I got to Sondra's in good time. Found her resting and healing.

Sondra laid up


I unloaded my truck, set up my sewing machine outside on her back porch, so I could enjoy the sights and smells. It really was a LOVELY place to sew... I looked straight UP the side of the mountain...
Sewing on the back porch

looking up the ridge


Her porch is cool in the afternoons, and her dog Jerry is so sweet...
Jerry on the back porch

he loves to sleep UP on the roof of the garage. From the porch, the roof is only a foot or so off the ground so it's easy access.
Jerry on the roof
Jerry sleeping on roof.

This is the side yard where we shot fireworks off from... see the sloop to the left... yep that's where she fell down...
side yard


Her son Hank is 19 and Autistic, he works each day and is really doing well for his disabilities.
She has much to proud of with him, he recently graduated from high school.
Hank

When I took her for a doctors visit, they changed her cast from plaster to fiberglass... I was able to get some pic of her surgery site. She complained that I was taking pics... but was sure glad later when she could share with her momma long distance... see DON'T shot the photographer!
surgery site

and later they took x-rays and told her another 4 weeks before the stitches come out... bummer.
this is 2 pics of the same ankle- just different views.
pins

but she can walk around pretty well with the walker and move to a cane- and even drive when comfortable, so my job was done... I got her thru the worst few days- right after coming home... and my services were no longer needed.

I had an annual sewing weekend to attend "Howdy's Hoedown" and needed to get home for that.
So I drove in the evening and got in at 2 am on friday and was gone again by noon....

I think the hardest thing for me- was getting used to being OFF THE GRID... she had dial up for internet (too too slow) and no cell phone reception up on the mountain... it really was kinda refreshing, once I wrapped my head around it!

I still had a GREAT visit... it is nice to be a help...


1 comment:

Montie said...

I remember the mountain and being taken aback to realize that it went straight up just off the back of the house. Too cool!