Battle Wounds and Broomball

The greatest battle wound I ever got came from a snowboarding trip. A friend gave up trying to teach me how to stay on the board and told me slide down the hill using the board as a sled, while he stayed close enought to keep me from killing myself. Well, as boys do, he tried to show off a little and strayed a bit too far on a hill that was just a little too steep. My board flipped around and I careened over the side of the hill, heading, thankfully not over the side of a ravigne, but just over a slight drop and then full speed for a water tank off to the side. My friend of course only saw me disappear over the side and he freaked out not knowing where I would end up. Fortunately, my board came to a stop before I hit the water tank (or I would have ended up with much worse battle wounds), and I lay there in the snow by my board, which I had slid off about halfway down my little short cut. Later on, someone noticed the tip of a dark bruise on my side and I discovered a big purple bruise about the size of a tennis ball on my left hip, apparently from hitting something big during my slide. It was my most glorious battle wound ever.

Those glory days came back to me last night as I sat in front of my computer holding a bag of ice to my eye. A game of broomball had gotten a little out of hand and I got the ball kicked right at my face. Don't worry-- after the initial worries of concussion and blurred vision I was fine. But now I have what could be considered my first black eye-- even if the bruised part is just enough in the crease of my eyelid that no one can really tell. But it's there all right.

The glory days are back....