Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Wear Your Helmets, Boys And Girls!

As many followers of State of Nature already know, back at the end of April, I was hit by a car while on a cycling training ride. I was taking a left turn and was broadsided by a driver who ignored a stop sign and pulled onto the road right into me. I was taken from the scene by ambulance to a nearby hospital to learn I had sustained a fractured rib, and to get three stitches above my eye. Fortunately, after about a month, I was mostly recovered, and now am fully back to normal.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my bike. As you can see from the pictures below, the impact of the accident snapped both legs of the fork clean in half.


In addition, the frame had a large crack down one side.


This latter damage rendered the bike beyond repair, and it was totaled. Fortunately, a very reasonable insurance settlement has allowed me to replace the bike.

So the bike has been replaced, and my injuries have healed. But the extent of the damage to bike and person in what was a pretty low-speed accident highlights how much worse it could have been. Be careful out there, and WEAR THAT HELMET!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Not To Make Excuses, But . . .

Okay, I know I have been way behind on the blog . . . very few updates, and when they come, they're a month or more dated. So our schedule for a recent weekend may help explain the blog neglect. Here was our day on May 16:

8:30-10:45 - Stephen lacrosse tournament
11:00-1:00 - Matthew T-Ball
12:00-1:30 - Stephen baseball game
1:30-3:15 - Stephen goes to birthday party
2:00-4:30 - David rec baseball game (extra innings!)
4:45-5:15 - David travel baseball batting practice
7:00-9:00 - David travel baseball away game

This was an extreme case, but actually somewhat representative of our weekends over the last month or two.

Stephen's First Communion

I'm continuing to catch up on the blog . . .

Stephen's First Communion was March 2, and it was a fantastic weekend. Family from all around made the trip to Northern NJ to share in the festivities. We had visitors from Louisiana, Virginia, Maryland, New York, and North Carolina! What great turnout, and lots of good food and conversation.

Here is Stephen fully dressed and ready to head to the church.


More photos here.