Hello Posse,
As the title suggests, I am home again. P.R. and I had an amazing two weeks traveling around Italy. The photo above is me and my better half, P.R., on the beach in Messina, Sicily, We started our trip off in Rome, then to Florence, and Venice. From there, we flew to Sicily and toured the entire island by rental car along coastal roads. It was the trip of a lifetime.
Me being me, I, of course, hurt myself on this trip. No one who knows me is shocked by this. As I was walking down the steps from our B&B in Ragusa on our first full day in Sicily, I was memorised by the view of the landscape. I was looking off at the city center on the adjacent hilltop and was not watching where I was walking. I missed a step and started to fall. I grabbed for the railing but my ring finger went between the support bars instead.
As I fell, my finger got trapped and took the weight of my fall. It did stall my collapse long enough that I was able to grab the rail with my other hand and right myself. I carefully pulled my hand out from between the bars. I'm not going to lie, I said a few colorful words as I did so.
P.R. and our friends, the other couple we were traveling with, kept asking if I wanted to see a doctor. I did not see the point in that. Even if I broke my finger, I didn't feel like the doctors would do much of anything I couldn't do myself. So I just took some Ibuprofen and soldiered on. We had a lovely day sightseeing and I took a lot of photos. Some of which I will share on the Members Only page (it is free to join and you can quit at any time).
By the time we walked into downtown Ragusa, I thought it might be a good idea to do something to brace my finger. We went to a pharmacy and got some medical tape but they didn't have a brace in stock at the moment. When we got back to the B&B, I improvised a brace by breaking off the handle of one of our plastic coffee spoons. It worked.
A few days later, we were in Trapani and I stopped in another pharmacy and they had braces. I was able to upgrade. By this time the whole finger was black and I had to take my wedding ring of due to the swelling. Again, my better half and our companions tried to talk me into seeing a doctor. Again, I kindly refused. I had never been to Italy before and I was not about to miss out on seeing such incredible sights to sit in an ER. I have seen plenty of those. Besides, it's not like I was going to die from a broken finger, if it was broken.
With the new brace, we were able to finish our vacation and return home. Once home, I finally gave in to P.R. and we went to the ER. After a few hours and four X-rays, the doctor didn't think it was broken but he wasn't positive. There is a line on the bone in the top view X-ray but he said he did't see the same line on the side X-ray. However, they upgraded my brace again and sent me home with stronger Ibuprofen.
So here I am, two weeks later, typing with all the fingers on my right hand and two fingers on my left. My ring finger still hurts like crazy when I try to bend it. If it's not better by next week, I'm supposed to go back to the ER but I do not see the point. I have chapters to write and things to do; though I have a feeling I will be doing them all slower.
My next order of business is getting the first chapter of Into the West: Most Wanted written and uploaded on the hidden page for those who read Into the West: Sharon Springs and want the end to the cliffhanger. Into the West: Most Wanted will most likely be the longest book yet. I have a lot I want to get in here to set up the last book tentatively titled, Into the West: Home Sweet Home. Keep watching for more updates to come.
Thanks for sticking with me!
With gratitude,
Stephen