I'm still here!!

Hi Folks!! I wanted to get a quick post out to let you all know we're still here.  It turns out that's not as flippant as it sounds.

De and a friend and I were involved in an auto accident last Saturday, in the middle of a funeral procession of all things.  Long story short we were rear-ended by another vehicle in the procession and got pushed into a third.  We were stopped and he was doing around 30 MPH, so we got quite a jolt.  No one went to the hospital (at least right away), and we were all able to walk away.  His mid-sized car was impressively 'totaled', my mid-size SUV has about $5000 in damages (we think, more on that later) and is 'drivable', the third - a beefy Jeep Wrangler - suffered no real damage.

We got off so 'cheap' (in the grand scheme of things) because when he finally hit the brakes his nose went down and his bumper lined up squarely with the Reese hitch receiver that is bolted directly to my frame.  That means he hit the most solid piece of my whole vehicle, which accounts for the extensive damages to his car.  The adjuster came out and looked over my SUV and figured the bill at just under $5k with a rather sizable "but".  Because my hitch bolts directly to the frame, the extent of the frame damage won't be fully understood until they get the rear bumper (and rear fenders, and lift gate, and front bumper and hood) off.  It might be $5000 and it might be more.

Everyone involved has been great.  We had a message from his insurance company before we got home.  They'll pay to fix my SUV and for a rental while it's in the shop.  They'll also pay the bill for my seeing the Doc a couple day's after the accident.  (No - I don't have much of a concussion, No - My shoulder doesn't need surgery or even physical therapy, Yes - You will likely hurt for weeks, No - You can't run your chainsaw anytime soon {I asked}, Yes - Ibuprofen and your heating pad are going to be your two best friends for a good long while.)  De is stiff and sore but seems to have fared the best of the three of us.  Good friend Susan is in between with stiff and sore, and also has a bruise on her kiester {so she tells us, I haven't and don't intend to see it} where a clip intended to lock down a child seat sticks out between the seat and back cushions.  We've all been going to work, but not moving very fast.  Fortunately we all have jobs that can accommodate that.

Now that I'm moving and sleeping a little better I'll have some energy at the end the of the day to catch up on your posts and get several of my own out.  We've have some interesting things happen I want to share with everyone.

• We lost a chicken when she wandered into the neighbor's yard and met their big puppy.
• We put up a barrier to keep the rest of them 'to home'.
• Broody hen Houdini hatched out two chicks and we're all learning how to deal with that.
• That garden is doing pretty well, as are the weeds.   I still have more to plant which requires some tilling.  Not sure how that's going to work yet.

Look for posts on all that in the near future. 

As I consider the whole last week, as sore as we are, everyone involved could have been injured so much worse.  God was clearly looking out for all of us!  Once again, we are blessed.

Col. 1:9-12,

Mark