I’ll never get out of this world alive: some brief non-musical ramblings

It’s one of those days when I wish I would have stayed in bed, or on the couch in front of the TV, or…well, almost anywhere else. 

I left the house around 11:50 this morning. I had to be in town by 12:30, but I never made it. The roads had been plowed by this time, but the county invariably misses a few spots out on these rural roads, especially on curves. I was about a quarter of a mile from the highway, when all of a sudden a car appeared, driving in the center of the road. That’s a common occurrence around here, roads being as narrow as they are, and, since there is usually very little traffic, it’s relatively safe 99% of the time.

Not this time. 

I swerved to miss him and, in doing so, hit a patch of ice. As the other driver went on, most likely unaware of what was happening, I lost control of the car and began to slide back and forth over both sides of the road, before eventually flipping and landing top-down in the creek. 

From the second I landed, I was never in fear for my life. The creek wasn’t deep enough, I was able to move without any trouble, and I knew that, even in the worst-case scenario, somebody would eventually see the car and get some help to me. (My cell was buried in water, and, even if it wouldn’t have been, service is notoriously spotty around here.) Still, my main concern was getting out of the car as quickly as possible. 

I couldn’t get either door open and was prepared to kick one of the windows out when I happened to turn around and realize that my back glass was completely shattered. So I crawled into the back seat, out of the window, and into the freezing water. In the process, I managed to cut my hands several times, which was luckily the only physical injury I sustained.

Once I was out of the creek, I was disoriented and, for a minute, had no idea where I was. So I just looked around and saw a house. I climbed up a hill and through the woods to get to the house. I lost one of my shoes while walking through the woods and was too shaken up to stop and get it. After finally getting to the house, I knocked on the door and the owner let me in and allowed me to make a phone call. From there, the rest is the rote tale of car accidents that you hear all the time. Several members of my family showed up as did the squad and the Highway Patrol. Eventually a wrecker came to tow the car out. You know the story.

But it wasn’t until I had actually surveyed the damage that I realized how lucky I was. I came within feet of hitting a telephone pole and, once in the creek, came very close to hitting a giant boulder. Call it God, fate, or just plain luck. It was definitely on my side today.

In all, I lost the car, a couple of books, and several CDs (including my all-time favorite At Folsom Prison and another autographed album that the artist has been kind enough to replace). I could have lost so much more. I’m still a little sore and my hands hurt tremendously, but it’s better than feeling nothing.

I know that this has nothing to do with music, but I wanted to thank everybody that has expressed concern for me over Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere and let them know what happened without the constraints of those sites. I just wanted to let you know that I’m still here and, although I may not be online much in the next few days, I’m far from done.

Y’all drive safely out there.