Some Days Are Just Like That

Along every journey there will be bends in the road, missed exits, wrong turns, and potholes. Last Friday was one of those "pothole" days.

Patrick had a half-day of school so we thought we would use the afternoon to go up to Cochran's for a little skiing (okay Patrick would ski and Katherine and I would play in the snow). We got there and the parking lots were empty, there were only a couple of people, and the lifts weren't working. We found someone who told us that they didn't open. I had received an e-mail from the school saying that Cochran's would be open and the kids from the ski/ride program (that's Patrick) were invited to spend the afternoon skiing. After three days of above-normal temperatures, rain, and melting, I guess not enough people thought there would be any snow to ski on, so they didn't open.

So, how do I save the afternoon? The kids are suited up to play in the snow. Skiing is out. It was too early to just go to the church for AWANA and going home didn't excite anyone (except maybe me) so we stopped at the Old Round Church where there is a small hill perfect for sledding. At the bottom of the hill was a large patch of ice. On Thursday it was surely a big mushy puddle, but on this cold day it was frozen solid. Patrick wasn't too keen on sledding having mentally prepared for an afternoon of skiing. Disappointment. But, Patrick took his saucer and went for a spin...literally. I started him spinning at the top of the hill and then just nudged him over so that as he flew down the hill he was spinning all the way. He whooped and hollered and laughed all the way down the hill...about fifty times. Katherine played at the top of the hills while Patrick went spinning and laughing down the hill and across that big ice pond. We had a great time until Patrick complained of a headache.

When we were at Cochran's he slipped and fell on a patch of ice, hitting his head. He didn't complain too much so I didn't get excited. I figured his headache was a combination of the bump on the ice and several runs down the hill spinning until he was dizzy. We went to AWANA and had our usual pizza during which Patrick complained more and more about not feeling well and having a headache. He felt bad enough that we finished our pizza and went home. By the time we got home his headache was so bad that Joerg insisted that we go to the hospital to make sure everything was okay, in light of the fact that he had hit his head on the ice when he fell. So, off we went.

Our stay in the emergency room was a little over an hour and the end result was that Patrick was fine from a he-doesn't-have-a-concussion perspective. However, the longer we sat there the higher his fever got (he didn't have one when we arrived) and by the time we left his fever was working its way to 101. After Tylenol and a couple days of rest he was fine. It seems that his headache was related to getting sick, not to hitting his head on the ice. It's not exactly the way I like to end my days (in the emergency room), but then I guess some days are just like that.