The Tenth Arbor-versary

September 1, 1999.
What a day.
I don't remember much of what happened that day, but I do remember this:

It was Wednesday, the third day of classes, three days before the first football game, and my first time to be drum major for the band. For some reason, I had missed about half of my advanced music theory class in the library, but I was determined to redeem the rest of my day and play well in the upcoming wind ensemble rehearsal. When I left the library, I decided to walk across the back lawn between a small grove of trees because it would get me to the Fine Arts Building faster, and I needed to be on time.

As I was walking across the back lawn of the library, between the trees, I heard something that sounded like a bowl of Rice Krispies (snap, crackle, pop!). I didn't know where the sound was coming from so I thought to myself, "Maybe I should walk a little faster."

So I did.

Maybe that wasn't the best move. The noise got louder and louder until it hit me, "That's the sound of a tree limb falling..." Then it really did hit me! I ducked and covered my head with my hand just in time for the large branch to land on my hand... and my head! It was so heavy that the weight of the rest of the limb swung down and landed on my left leg, knocking me down into a concrete ravine next to the bottom floor of the library.

This joker was huge! It was so big that it knocked my hat, sunglasses, and the backpack that I had on both shoulders completely off! It was so big that I thought it had broken my femur! It was so big that I had to be strapped to a hard board and rushed to the emergency room to make sure it hadn't done permanent damage!

I found out later that the limb was close to 2 feet in diameter, 20 feet long, and fell from about 25 feet up in the air!!! I also found out that if I hadn't ducked and covered like I did, it probably would have broken my neck and killed me... so there's that.

When I went to marching band rehearsal the next day, barely able to walk, wrapped up in bandages, the guys in the band were very encouraging and supportive. They went out of their way to make me feel welcomed back to the land of the living. It's true. They called me George of the Jungle and threw small branches at me while yelling, "Watch out for that tree!" Isn't that sweet?

All in all, it was a memorable experience. I mean, it's been ten years today and I still remember it like it was... well... ten years ago!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate