Drifter Newsletter March 2019
FROM THE EDITOR……..
March is here and temps are showing some improvement for us in biker land! Remember 60 degree temps? Well, they are back again, at least down here in the flatlands. Drifters up the hill are still digging themselves out but heat is on the way. Hope this all adds up to finally getting more Drifters out on their sleds.
As most of you know I dropped my Harley bagger on my foot about a month ago and haven’t been able to walk on my foot let alone ride. At least it happened before the riding season started so that kept me from going completely bonkers while I was only able to “ride” the wheel chair that was presented to me. Then it was crutches but I had to give them up when my old shoulder injury was reactivated due to their use. The closest thing to being able to ride was when I got a knee scooter to zip around on. At least it had handlebars and brake levers and kind of looked like a bike except it has four wheels. I couldn’t use it at first because my knee was wrenched when I crashed and it was too painful to put my weight on it on the scooter knee pad. Now I can walk a little with a cane if I keep my weight on my heel bone and stay off the ball of my foot but I still use the scooter around the house or if I have to go very far, like into the grocery store. X rays showed no broken bones in my ankle or foot, and my knee seemed in one piece but the pain was pretty bad at first. My doctor said I would have been better off with a broken foot rather than all the soft tissue damage to tendons and ligaments I suffered. The human body’s ability to repair itself is amazing. My poor tootsie was so swollen, black and blue, and blood blistered, I wondered if it would ever be the same but gradually its showing signs of being useful again.
Any notion I had about feeling sorry for myself was tempered by the knowledge that some fellow Drifters were enduring their own physical issues. Ken Montgomery is still recouping from his escalator incident and our treasurer, Lynne Piper, is out of the Cedar City hospital and now is in rehab recovering from several serious health issues that were pretty scary. A few days ago Bill and Judy LaSalata were both in the hospital in St. George at the same time for different ailments but are now at home recovering at their daughter’s house here in St. George. Bill and Judy were planning to fly home to Connecticut to oversee the sale of their home in Torrington but now have delayed their return and will be staying in town for another month or so. Then Dewayne Smith had to deal with back surgery and was about to start riding his Victory again, however now it looks like he’s in for knee replacement surgery. Webmaster Dawn was unable to ride for awhile due to her recent foot surgery. Although now she can walk unaided, I saw her on her knee scooter and and I marveled over it (not knowing I would need one myself in short order).Tom Fabio’s bad shoulders have been limiting his time on his new 2019 Indian. John Marshall was an inspiration on how he weathered his slow painful recovery from very serious injuries he suffered when a pick up truck careened into him sending him to the hospital and totaling his Honda F6B. I’m sure there are other Drifters dealing with their physical issues too. And of course we can’t forget Drifters who have passed and are no longer with us. I always remember when I was a child ( no remarks please!) my mom reminding me when I came running to her with a “boo boo” of some kind that others were dealing with much worse and that I could be having it worse myself. I would feel silly when I whimpered to her about a skinned knee and she would say I could have skinned them both so not feel sorry but lucky. I try to take her lesson to heart even now as an adult (again, no remarks!) and my whimpering is kept to a minimum or at least in private.
See you out there ! (soon I hope!)
EDITOR MIKE
———
UPCOMING EVENTS: (See Events page for more info)
Sunday March 17th – St Patricks Day Ride
Wednesday March 27th – Dinner – Outback 6pm
Wednesday April 17th – Dinner Capelletti’s 6pm
Wednesday April 24th – Laughlin River Run Rally
ONGOING EVENTS:
Thursday Ride 11:30am – Meet-up Terrible, Exit 2, near Sunriver, St George. Kickstands up at 11:30am sharp
Friday Breakfast – 9:30am – Join Drifters for breakfast and a ride after breakfast if weather permits
Saturday 11:30am – Burger & Dog BBQ at Zion Harley Davidson – Drifters meet at 11:30am and ride after lunch if weather permits