Do you remember the January ice storm? In the scale of ice storms, this was closer to a nuisance than it was a storm. But it was enough that we decided our convention staff should work from home. Not only could they catch up on a little work—they would also have a little extra time to drink all the extra milk and eat all the extra bread they had bought in anticipation of an atmospheric catastrophe.
Sometime around midday, after I had labored away for half the day, I decided I would venture outside. I needed to stretch my legs and let my Labrador Retriever out for a while. I stood in my shop watching that goofy dog run around on the ice covered grass.
At some point, I stepped out of the shop building onto the concrete apron at the door. That’s when things began to get sideways. When I stepped out onto that ice covered concrete, I was in complete control. I hadn’t stood there for just a few seconds when I looked down and saw that my left leg was sticking out. It wasn’t sticking out too high – somewhere between the height of a punter’s leg after kicking a football a hundred yards and in a high step I might do if I thought I was about to step on a coppermouthrattlemocassin.
I remember thinking I don’t remember sticking my leg out like that so why is my leg sticking out like that? That’s when my right leg (the traitor) started to slide. I have never been able to trust my right leg. My left one has generally been trustworthy enough but not my right one. About the only time I can remember liking my right leg was the time I used it to do a perfect leg sweep on my sister.
She hit the ground hard and immediately started crying (big baby). I told mom I wasn’t sure what had happened, and my sister kept crying. It may have been a little more believable if I hadn’t been laughing when I said it. Turns out she broke her tailbone when she fell. But I have never figured out why that was so traumatic. I mean, what do you use your tailbone for anyway? It’s like your appendix or a tonsil. It’s just one of those extra parts the Lord left in you when He made you.
But that’s the only time my right leg has done much of anything for me. And now here I was with my left leg sticking out, and I could feel my right leg slip sliding out from under me (Stupid right leg). I don’t remember how long it took me to fall. It wasn’t too long. But I didn’t break my tail bone. I thought for a minute that I may have jarred a tonsil loose. But I sure didn’t cry about it. In fact, I jumped up as quickly as I could and scanned the horizon to make sure none of my nosy neighbors didn’t see me.
Joe Ligon
Senior Associate Executive Director
