Tonight after work, I went to the basement and gathered a few tools that I would need in order to bang out the door for the fort. By the time I got to the backyard, however, my plans had been changed. Jenny has wanted some “low-hanging” branches trimmed for a while now and she finally convinced me that there is no time like the present.
Now, when I say “low-hanging”, I mean “bust out the big ladder, set it to its highest A-frame format (one of those ladders), climb to the top to grab the branch in order to pull it down and then cut it” low-hanging.
“One or two” branches turned to three. Then four. Then five. Then a small weedy maple. Then a dead weedy maple next to it. Then just one or two more branches on one last tree.
It was setting up the ladder for these branches on the last tree. It was just one tree too many for a tired, old guy after work and before dinner. The ladder is not exactly light, and the way it changes length and configuration is kind of sketchy. Well, in my tiredness, I screwed up and the heavy thing slid down on itself, and my hands that were in the way.
My right hand is going to have a nice bruise on it in the morning. It also suffered a small cut that is sure to give me an interesting pock mark scar on the back of my hand. Something new to look at! But it is the left hand that suffered the worst of it. I have a pretty good gash in the meaty part of my thumb, near the palm. I am fairly certain that it needs a couple of stitches. Jenny is convinced of it. But there is no freaking way that I am going to an Urgent Care or ER during COVID-19 to get this looked at.
I have a few band-aids holding it closed. Let’s hope that all of this manual labor has restored a bit of my old quick healing ability. I fear that this injury is going to slow down progress on the fort. 🙁 I got the last of the branches down, though.