Damage

The extent of breakage to my bones has been limited to a few cracked ribs. There were numerous sprains and pulls, but no significant damage that required a visit to an orthopedic surgeon.

As a stalwart Pius Itinerant, I sometimes avoided becoming an inmate of the local constabulary’s establishment for the correction of wayward hitchhikers, by serious bushwhacks. These were strenuous cross-country treks, but resulted in little damage. In my time, at least, I found that most officer Opies were not interested in chasing me. I knew how to avoid the poison ivy.

After settling in, and this is a relative and flexible concept, I found employment as a surgical technician. One winter, I worked in a hospital in Maine. The local snowmobile races on Sundays helped keep me in overtime hours as we repaired many broken bones. On occasion during that winter, the snow conditions were so bad that I was delivered to the hospital by the police. The roads being pretty much shut down at 2 a.m. It was an interesting experience to ride in a police vehicle as a guest, so to speak, of the local government.