08-21-2009, 09:58 AM
1. The Hatchet- When I was probably 13 I was out camping with my dad and brother. I was using a hatchet to chop up some firewood. On one particularly hard chop the hatchet just nicked the side of the log, sending it off at an angle... right into one of my toes.
Thankfully the blade was rather dull, so it "only" happened to dig in maybe a quarter of an inch.
2. The Bike- Another camping trip, this time when I was around 10. My cousins were with me and we traded bikes. The bike I got was one where the brakes were on the handle... I had never used a bike like that, mine were always the kind where you just pushed back on the pedals to brake. We rode up to the top of this big hill that overlooked the pond at the camp ground and decided to race down it.
About halfway down the hill I started to get scared because I felt like I was going too fast. By instinct I started to push back on the pedals to slow down, but of course they did nothing. In my panic to try to remember how to use the brakes I didn't notice the big log in front of me. I hit it, causing me to get thrown over the handlebars of the bike. Both the bike and I started to bounce/roll down the hill. We came to a stop right in the middle of the boardwalk to the pond- right in the middle of a crowd of people.
3. The Snowboard- In middle school I got big into snowboarding and joined the ski/snowboard club at school. We'd go out to the local ski place once a week after school. One day while we were out there all of us who would snowboard were at a jump and trying to show off to one another.
I was the new guy, so I knew that I had to impress the rest of them, so I hit the jump as fast as I could. I was launched into the air higher than I ever had been before and I stuck the landing. Only thing was, when I landed, I landed sort of funny, and it felt like I ripped my groin in half. The pain was so bad that I could barely manage to stand, but of course, I had to look cool and tough in front of these guys. So, rather than stop and come back to watch the others go, I just kept on going down the slope. I raced to the bottom of it and got myself 'lost' in a big line of people waiting to get on the chairlift. Immediately I fell to the ground and waited for the pain to subside. Took about ten minutes, but I was finally able to stand again, at which point I went back up the hill to rejoin the others.
Thankfully the blade was rather dull, so it "only" happened to dig in maybe a quarter of an inch.
2. The Bike- Another camping trip, this time when I was around 10. My cousins were with me and we traded bikes. The bike I got was one where the brakes were on the handle... I had never used a bike like that, mine were always the kind where you just pushed back on the pedals to brake. We rode up to the top of this big hill that overlooked the pond at the camp ground and decided to race down it.
About halfway down the hill I started to get scared because I felt like I was going too fast. By instinct I started to push back on the pedals to slow down, but of course they did nothing. In my panic to try to remember how to use the brakes I didn't notice the big log in front of me. I hit it, causing me to get thrown over the handlebars of the bike. Both the bike and I started to bounce/roll down the hill. We came to a stop right in the middle of the boardwalk to the pond- right in the middle of a crowd of people.
3. The Snowboard- In middle school I got big into snowboarding and joined the ski/snowboard club at school. We'd go out to the local ski place once a week after school. One day while we were out there all of us who would snowboard were at a jump and trying to show off to one another.
I was the new guy, so I knew that I had to impress the rest of them, so I hit the jump as fast as I could. I was launched into the air higher than I ever had been before and I stuck the landing. Only thing was, when I landed, I landed sort of funny, and it felt like I ripped my groin in half. The pain was so bad that I could barely manage to stand, but of course, I had to look cool and tough in front of these guys. So, rather than stop and come back to watch the others go, I just kept on going down the slope. I raced to the bottom of it and got myself 'lost' in a big line of people waiting to get on the chairlift. Immediately I fell to the ground and waited for the pain to subside. Took about ten minutes, but I was finally able to stand again, at which point I went back up the hill to rejoin the others.