Thank You from the Mountain Girl

I want to dedicate this blog to the volunteers of the Morris Fire Company, the Medivac Flight Crew, The DCNR Foresty Dept, Mick's Son who found me, and everyone at the Cedar Run Inn who helped in so many ways.

I am hoping the first picture has most of the Morris Fire fighters who came and wrapped me up like a fragile egg for shipment. They transported me as carefully as they could across roads most people would never want to travel and got me safely to the helicopter.
Knowing someone else is in charge of helping you when you become unable is a feeling hard to relay. I am a very independent and strong person, so needing help is very foreign to me. I will have to say this experience is very life-changing and special thanks to the Morris People for all they did.

Next the Lifeflight nurse and pilot. Although no in flight movie was available, the morphine drip was greatly appreciated. They were great at keeping you calm about riding in a very tight space whirling through the air. They don't have much room in the copter to do everything they do, but having that shortcut to a state of the art hospital was a big relief. It would have been very painful to have been driven much farther on rough roads. Thanks for the smooth delivery to Giesinger in Danville.

Also much thanks to Brian Caldwell the Chief Ranger at the Foresty Department. Not only has he personally come to visit, but he crawled down to my vehicle and retrieve many of my tools and dropped them off at my house. Wow! I can't say enough for the kind actions of all in this department. He continues to email me and is promising some pictures he took of the crash site.

Thanks to Micks sons for picking me up. I will have to tell you I recognized your face but didn't realize who you were until later. I am so glad you came down the road when you did and helped me to safety.

Last but not least Charlotte and Stanely Dudkin and Cozette Stolfus at Cedar Run. Just seeing their faces and knowing they would take care of contacting Lee and the emergency assistance was a relief. Charlotte's son Matt had just been in a motorcycle accident the day before and she was sick and still cared for me like her own daughter. Make sure you all support the Inn they are great people. Special thanks to Cozette who is a retired nurse and made sure I was comforted her light kiss on my forehead said it all and I will never forget her compassion.

So many of my readers and friends of the family have sent cards and words of encouragement that I would be hard pressed to name you all. You know who you are and I am sure you got extra credit on God's report card.

Now to the second picture. My granddaughter Reilly, 12, recently had a birthday, she helped her mom make up this Mountain Monkey equipped with a helmet and parachute to avoid any more accidents. Reilly's birthday was June 24th. I sent her birthday money and she returned it to me with a note, saying she felt God wanted me to have the money because I needed it more than her. Where does a child this age get this kind of compassion and self-less ness. It made me cry and be full of pride for the the wonderful person she is growing into.

In this world it is the little things we do for each other that makes life worth the trip. We all complain about the gas prices, economy and so much more. But when it comes down to it we are all linked together in our struggles and our joys. Sharing this with you all has been a great blessing to me and I hope will be a blessing for you all as well. Pass on the love and compasssion to others everyday and you will make an impact if only for a minute on someone else. Thanks again for all the love and support.

Recovery

Thought you might like to see my new outfit for the next three months. I can walk around fine, which is a great relief. I am so glad I didn't break a leg. I am able to take the brace off when I sleep, which is good because it gets hot and itchy underneath.

I am going to see the Doctor on Friday to get a better idea of how long I will be trapped in this thing. Mountain girls, don't make good patients. I love to be active and this is really testing my patience. Thanks for all the cards, flowers and other support you have sent me it is appreciated more than I can say. Who knows maybe I won't miss the whole season stuck in this turtle shell. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Update to Crash

Well, I asked myself how did I run off the road and this is my conclusion. The first picture shows the Crown vetch covering the place where the road narrows. I was on the left and as I came out of this area the shoulder was soft and immediately threw my car down the hill. The road is about 10 foot wider right before this spot and I misjudged until it was too late. After driving in horrible conditions on this road it seems a strange fate to go over on a nice day.

The rest of the pictures are ones the insurance company made of my vehicle. It held up really well considering the fall. And I am impressed with the fact it didn't crush. I climbed out of the drivers side rear window.

I am feeling better the last couple of days and am so thankful for the prayers and financial support of friends during our time of need. There truly are good people in this world and many of them live here and read this blog. As my ability to write and concentrate
gets better I will try to post more updates.

On a non-accident note. ..The eagle pair at Cedar Run have near ready to fly youngster. After returning from the hospital, I was blessed with being able to see it flap its wings in practice to leave the nest. I will be anxious to flap my wings long before I am able to fly again, but living up here and receiving all of your support is truly a gift.
Mountain girl, Paula, Logging off.

Mountain Girl takes a tumble

Well friends I have had a major adjustment to my life. I suffered a major car accident Sunday June 29th. My car fell off a 100' cliff and landed in the creek. I was in a spot unable to get cell reception and invisible from the back road I traveled. I knew I had hurt my back, but also realized unless I left the vehicle I may never be found. I was able to get my seat pried down and climbed out the back window. As my left hand touched the ground I realized I had broken the shoulder and had no strength. I had to lower myself on one arm down to the creek bed."Thank God for all the pushups!" At this moment a truck passed by I yelled and waved, but they were unable to see me. Now I faced a climb up the side of the mountain. Every step set excruciating pain up my back. The bank was about a 50 degree angle. I got on my hands and knees and looked for anything to grab with my right hand since this was all I had to pull myself up with. I just prayed every root would hold and when I got to the last 10 feet, I didn't slid back down.
We don't get much traffic on our road, but since it was a Sunday and many people were leaving their camps someone came shortly and I was able to connect to the assistance I needed. Here is the first picture of me trussed up before my air flight.
Two of my vertebra are broken one in 4 places the other in one. I also broke my left shoulder blade. I am just asking for all of your prayers making it through rehab and the financial stress will be my biggest challenge.
I will try to keep you all updated in the blog. I am having a hard time looking at anything for any length of time because of nausea.
Mountain girl, Paula, still loving Leetonia and logging out!

Leo's bad bear day.

Leo, never chased a bear before Jack died last Fall, but decided this Spring it was his job now to take care of them. Jack bit and chased many a bear during his five years up here and the bears never laid a paw on him. Leo wasn't so lucky today.

I was walking toward Hooke's place up the road from mine about a quarter mile. Leo was slightly ahead of me as we approached the camp. I noticed he ran as he approached the pond and thought he was anxious to get a drink.


I came up by the propane tanks to be met by Leo, looking quite scared, hair up. He ran towards me and keep going. I looked where he came from and saw a 300 pound bear down by the feeder. Just then,Scooter, my young dog also saw it and started toward it. I yelled, "No!", and he stopped as the bear ran off. Then the heavens opened up with a downpour and I headed for cover under the porch with the dogs.

I decided to call Lee on the phone to come and get us when the rain turned to hail with lightening. Leo was acting jumpy and I thought it was because of the thunderstorm. The dogs and I jumped in the car, and Lee said, "What smells? Did one of those dogs roll in something?" I swore they didn't as we drove home, but I noticed the smell too.

Once we got inside the cabin with good lighting I noticed Leo's back and side had been clawed by the bear. This explained the smell and Leo's nervousness. I put him in the tub and cleaned everything off well, peroxided it, and put antibiotic ointment on the wounds. He had three puncture wounds on his back, one is quite deep and a claw scratch on the side. He faired very well for being tagged by a bear. It is yet to be seen if he will need to go to the vet and get some antibiotics as these kind of wounds can get infected fast. I am betting Leo will be much more careful around bears as he is not the bravest dog, but definitely the luckiest dog tonight. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out!

Mountain Laurel and Snakes

Looks like the Mountain Laurel will be great this year everywhere except where the Forest Fire burnt it, between Fahneystock, Mine Hole and West Rim. It seems like it has been a long time since I have seen this much color this soon on Cedar Mountain.

The Morris Rattlesnake Roundup is this weekend and they had quite a crowd today. I don't know whose child this is touching the rattlesnake, but I do know my daughter would have nightmares for weeks thinking about it.

This little girl had no fear petting the snake while
the bitting end was inside a plastic tube. They don't get the snakes out much, but when they do it is a treat for those who would never get such a chance to interact with these amazing reptiles. The snakes are injected with a microchip and their length, sex and other information is recorded. They are then released back where they were captured. Many times the same snake makes repeated trips to the festival in following years.

A prize is awarded for the largest yellow-timber rattler and the largest black-timber rattler. In the wild these snakes avoid people and for the
most part avoid confrontation. This does not mean that people aren't bitten. In fact, last year, a man in the Slate Run area was bitten when he moved a skid a rattlesnake was under. He walked a mile before being taken to the hospital and faired fine.

The last picture is the case they keep the snakes in for people to see as they visit the festival. Next weekend is the Mountain Laurel Festival for those who prefer a different kind of beauty. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

I'm back....Update

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I had satellite internet problems that took a week to fix. Then a family reunion to prepare for. So this edition shows everyone who came for the reunion. Since people weren't in good lines for me to tell you who they are. I will just give you an overview. The youngest was my grandaughter, Ella 2 years old and the oldest my Great,great Aunt Pauline at 93, still sharp as a tack and full of great stories, some of which I will relay later.

The week before the reunion we had record cold, frost. The week of the reunion record hot in the upper 90's.
It is hard to know which would have been better. We spent most of the time in the creek cooling off.

The second picture shows the hit of the reunion, making and shooting marshmallow guns. The kids are displaying their guns. We had a kid versus adult war and I must say us Adults didn't fare too bad.

This is a great project and next blog I will give you the instructions to make your own. The last picture shows Aunt Pauline being shown how to use a leap frog pad by Ella the youngest. It is amazing the techno ability of the young.


I will cherish this picture as you never know if we will have the honor of Ella's great,great,great,great Aunt again. I promise to post more again, but I must head off to work.

Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.