well i almost died, or at least ‘almost’ is as most best as i can say for myself. its not an impressive story, but its true and its true as of two days ago. i guess i’m just sending it out to noone here, which feels good, and which is what i’ll do to there, in real life, given the story is as it is.
i was treeplanting, 40 km down a gravel road bush from the town of nowhere special… it was the last day of a 10 day 12 hours everyday week, and we were getting drunk. drunk after a week like that is a few beers less than not being competely exhausted. i’m not sure what time it was at that time… but i was heading down the road to my van, which i slept in (more comfortable than a tent). it should have been a 5 minute walk from the fire.
i can’t say for sure what transpired next, i’ve narrowed it down to this list:
i was taking a shortcut through scarified land
i blacked out and walked through scarified land in completely the wrong direction
the next thing i remember i am completely surrounded by land (land = not road and hard to walk through… rocks, sticks, swamps, etc…) not to mention it was completely dark and quiet. completely dark. i couldn’t see the fire and so on and whatever, maybe it was out, probably 4am.
i fell like planters always fall, with their hands out to break it, and sliced my wrist on something… and hit my head too… but i didn’t realize it till after i got back. i got back only because i heard the automatic camp generator go on, so i followed that sound.
it was around 6 am when i got to the hospital after being rushed at top speed. i consider it almost death because of the cut. which just missed the artery. and because of all the time i had to debate just lying down or running in a direction. it was either or at that point.
anyways, i can still move my fingers and i’m fine. thats all.
Glad you came out of it alright. Funny how fucked you can get doing something boneheaded out in the woods! You realize how fragile a human is when you’re a long ways from a hospital.
‘scarified’ is when a big machine comes and tears up the earth so that small pockets of soil get exposed and heated for tree pods. it makes what are like trenches in the ground… so walking across it is difficult to put it mildly.
and yes… i would not have been stranded in land had i not been drunk… aside from that everything would have been the same.
i was earlier thinking something different phaedrus, …after slicing my wrist and hitting my head i still got up and got back. but shortly after i knocked on the boss’ trailer i collapsed (briefly tho), and then again when i was out of the hospital (in mcdonalds) i collapsed lightheaded… i don’t know blood loss or low blood sugar or something.
i should have felt more fragile when i was around people who i knew could look after me than not. maybe its a survival mechanism or something.
What is the saying? Familiarity breeds contempt? Sometimes we forget plan B, wchich should have been put in place before the alcohol starts flowing. Many of us are guilty of, “it seemed like a good idea at the time”. Glad that the incident was a wake up call and not a funeral. Next time, move the van about 50 ft away from the party. That way there might be a couple of guys still sober enough to drag you to the van.
you’re missing the point, which was simple enough. and by the way, i had about 6 beers, which for me is like 5 beers. i was not drunk, just drinking. it was as much hte exhaustion and tiredness as anything else. so yes, walking back to my van seemed like a good idea at the time.
I didn’t miss the point. I too have managed to put in the sort of hours of intense labor you spoke of. Whether it’s two beers or a dozen, exhaustion + letting down + alcohol is enough for any of us. I was lucky when my wake up call came. I took out about 30 ft of guard rail and the car stopped about 5 ft from a hundred foot drop into the river where two weeks before a guy my age wasn’t so lucky. They found the car about a mile downstream. He drowned. I wasn’t drunk either. I only had two beers, but it was enough. It’s good to find out we’re mortal. I’m glad that everything turned out well for you.
There are few photos as memorable as the one you sent into ILP a while back. I thought it could win an award and said so many things about the reality of “work.” If this guy doesn’t deserve a few beers, I don’t know who does.
Monooq where are you planting now? I’m going back out in Feb to interior B.C. Who do you plant for? Good money? IS everyone still bitching about falling prices? Are you planning on going out next season? We should swap info, and gf’s … I mean… …
Glad that you are still alive. I came close to catching herpes once in a planting camp, the story isn’t near as riveting though. I do miss all the airy hippie philosophy that comes with planting though, ahhh past lives, unshaven airmpits, the feeling of being one with the earth… (Fuck I hate it, but tuiton needs to be paid).
Okay so I haven’t read Will to Power yet… is it worth it? I mean I’ve avoided it largely because of his sisters influence on the book. BTW You guys are getting ripped off for having to wear the helmuts, we just keep them in our back bag.
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