No good turn goes unpunished!

     A nice family up the street left a crib and a stroller on the curb a couple of months ago, both in good condition.  Paula collected them, and they ended up helping a young Afghan refugee couple.  

     The other day, we finally remembered to take a thank-you note to the neighbor.  On the way back, we passed four teenage guys playing street hockey, using a hard ball for a puck.

     Without warning,  WHACK!  the ball hit my right temple, a slap shot from the hockey game.  It knocked me down, and I needed a couple of seconds to get oriented again.  The player that made the shot came over and asked the usual, "You OK?" and when I stood up, he went back to the game.  

     I felt funny the rest of the evening, and there was kind of dent on the right side of my head.  When I went to the doctor in the morning, he said, "Yeah, that feels funny.  I don't think I want to push on it," and then he said, "You know, you're an old guy [WHAT?!] and you've sustained a hard blow.  It's CT-scan time for you."

     Believe it or not, that was accomplished within the next hour.

    Luckily, the reading of the scan was negative.

     The right side of my head is still kind of sore.  

     Like I said to Paula, that's the last time I thank a neighbor for a kindness without putting on a helmet first.  

     We hope that your neighborhood kids are more careful with their street hockey games.  Or their street archery practice.  Or their street skeet shooting.  That kind of stuff.

Dave