Had a great day fishing a small cascades lake. Weather great and fish cooperated. Loaded boat on trailer and ready to head home when I saw a nice looking lava rock and decided to take it home for the back yard. Bent over, lost my balance and fell and knew I was seriously hurt. No cell service but my fishing buddy saw 3 big guys at the launch that were able to move me the most painful 20 yards I've ever moved to put me in the passenger seat of my truck. My buddy drove me 80 miles to the emergency in Vancouver. The xray showed a badly fractured hip and in surgery got a partial hip replacement, one week in hospital followed by another week in a therapy and recovery center. My wife and I celebrated our anniversary in the center with a romantic dinner consisting of a chocolate chip cookie and a diet coke. Two days later celebrated my 83rd birthday with a cupcake and a glass of milk. Had a roommate at the center. 86 year old retired plumber that decided he would climb a ladder and prune a tree. Which is how he became my roommate. We each had our separate tv's but our remotes would work both of them and finally his quit working altogether which solved that problem so we watched a lot of football together on my set. The format on my tv wasn't set right so you couldn't see the bars on the bottom so you never knew down and distance or time remaining. At one time I called my wife at home, had her turn on the same channel I was watching so she could tell me the score of the game. Through all the pain and misery I was determined to have as many laughs and fun as possible and I have to credit teams of great doctors and nurses at both the hospital and the therapy center for making the time pass more quickly and more pleasantly. My roommate became a new friend. I'll be tying some steelhead flies for one of the therapists and converted a few folks to be Duck fans, maybe. A friend showed up with a walker the nurses said was the Cadillac of walkers, so I was strolling up and down the hallways showing off my new wheels, four wheel drive all terrain vehicle with a cup holder and locking brakes. Finally managed to get released in time to watch my Ducks beat the Buckeyes. Looking forward to recovery and getting back on the lakes. And getting that lava rock out of my truck.
