Hi, Gang, I fell and broke my ankle last Saturday, and then fell again when they sent me home from the ER, so I spent a few days in the hospital doing wheelies in the hall with a wheel chair stoned on Codine and Zanax. Funny thing, though, as the parpamedics were hauling my carcass out the second time, I asked Kip the Kop to grab a whistle for me and I stuck it in my britches. He did, bless him, and I didn’t go nuts while waiting to see what they were gonna do with me. I’m home, using a wheel chair and a walker. Nice thing about playing the whistle there, though, in this very small hospital, was that an elderly woman across the hall was shrieking most of the time, none of the nurses could get her calmed down, so I decided to play the whistle is self defense, and instead of the nurses leaving the door closed, they opened it, and the lady settle down. Later her son came into my room and told me a story about a whistler and a piper that used to sit outside in Terryville (which is now under Mt. Ugly Rubble) and play the whistle and the pipes, which would carry all over the gulch, because that little town was so quite! Good to know I’m carrying on some kind of local tradition! Boy, there’s a bunch of things I’ll never take for granted any more, I can’t put any weight on my ankle for six weeks, and will have upper arms like Arnold Schwartznegger by the time I go climbing up THAT hill again!
Good luck Anna,
I broke my leg while down on the Nebraska/South Dakota border on the Pine Ridge Reservation the first week in June. I’m still healing (I had complications) but life is good and I’ve got some good whistling in.
I love your story of the screaming lady settling down. That’s beautiful. I work on an acute psychiatric ward at a state hospital and have been meaning to take my whistles over to the geriatric psych ward to play. Thanks for reminding me of my good intentions.
take care and heal quickly
\
Peace
Namasté
jim
[ This Message was edited by: livethe question on 2001-11-29 22:47 ]
Anna, I hope you heal quickly! I am sure you were an absolute delight to the hospital staff and patients!
Jessie
On 2001-11-29 22:46, livethe question wrote:
I broke my leg while down on the Nebraska/South Dakota border on the Pine Ridge Reservation the first week in June. I’m still healing (I had complications) but life is good and I’ve got some good whistling in.I love your story of the screaming lady settling down. That’s beautiful. I work on an acute psychiatric ward at a state hospital and have been meaning to take my whistles over to the geriatric psych ward to play. Thanks for reminding me of my good intentions.
[ This Message was edited by: livethe question on 2001-11-29 22:47 ]
Jim! Dang right life is good! Gives you a whole new perspective on stuff you took for granted! The worst thing that happened today was conking myself on the noggin trying to get a plastic bowl down from a high shelf with a grabber dealie that doesn’t really do the job. The bowl’s down and gonna stay down, and I’m glad it wasn’t a can, just like I’m glad it was only an ankle.
DON’T wait to take your whistle to the old folks wards, they’ll love it! When one of the elderly folks in my building is in the hospital, I usually take my recorder (ducking and rolling really fast) to go visit them. I take the recorder because it’s softer and I didn’t think I could get away with a whistle, but that’s changed now! They’ll not only adore you for it, but they’ll beg for more!
Ta-Da!!! I am now officially a Deadwood character on my own. I’m now the Whistle Lady (Lady? Not me! No Way!), eccentric to be sure, but harmless! Whee! I’m off the hook because I’m a kind of a built in babysitter (not a Pied Piper stealing players out of casino’s! That would never happen!) and giving stuff away that I pay for myself! I refused to even consider playing any kind of a historical character simply because I know I’ve got enough of my own! The best thing is, is my whistle cause/passion/thing/deal with the cops is now settled. The cops decided I could be the Whistle Lady! They’re not going to chase me anymore when I’m out there playing whistles and giving them away to the kids. I told them they could trust me not to be busking or doing anything illegal, but I would be giving whistles away when kids got that look. They told me not to worry about getting harrassed or busted, but that I could always count on them driving by to check when some casino employee decides to call them on a cell phone, but they won’t hassle the kids or me anymore. Pays off to be one of the few citizens around here who never goes to bars and gets drunk. Guess I’m harmless when I’m flat on my a$$ and not in anybody’s face! LOL! I can also play for tips on a casino’s property if the owner will claim me as an unpaid employee, which is cool. Geeze, it’s too cold and snowy to think about busking outside, just think how much money I could have made playing in a wheel chair! Groan! I could clean up and buy more whistles from Thom!
Let it shine! Anna “RoaringMouse” Martinez
[ This Message was edited by: Anna Martinez on 2001-12-01 13:21 ]
Sorry to hear about your fall Anna..your whistle will come in handy when the inevitable itching under the plaster starts! Peace,Mike:)
On 2001-12-01 13:22, mike.r wrote:
Sorry to hear about your fall Anna..your whistle will come in handy when the inevitable itching under the plaster starts! Peace,Mike:)
The cast tech told me to use a portable electric mixer/egg beater thing and when it itches, turn the thing on and let the beaters bang on the fiberglass cast to get rid of the itchies. They took the knitting needles away! Trouble is with whistles you can’t get the suction you need even when using both hands to suck up and pick up papers one the floor!
Let it shine! Anna “RoaringMouse” Martinez
[ This Message was edited by: Anna Martinez on 2001-12-01 13:30 ]