The Train, the Tree and Me

Introducing Cortez, a talented glass artist who has lived life as I can only dream about. My hopes are that I can convince this talented young man to jump aboard the Frog train as a regular contributor.

In the stories of the people lie the answers.

I was sitting in a bar in Hollywood, Florida reading the local music newspaper. I had a pretty good buzz on when I came across a band that I wanted to see. I just lived a few blocks away and was going home to see if I could get a ride from one of my neighbors to go see some music . So did I mention the buzz I had on ??

I approached the train tracks at 24th street and Dixie Highway. The gates go down and I am stuck on the other side of the tracks. As I look to the north all I can see are very slow moving freight cars ... I mean slow ... so slow that I could reach out and just jump on and then off again and be on the other side ... ahhhh, that's when the idea hits me to do just that. So I reach out and grab onto a bar of some sort and pull myself up 3 large steps and walk across the platform to the other side.

Then I jump.....as I hit the ground something is not right. I feel like I have broken my leg.

So I try and get up again ... yep ..its broken . But no pain . I'm pretty sure it was a mix of shock and tequila .. but still no pain . So I see this little sapling of a tree about 5 or 6 feet high .. I tell myself "Self".. if I can get to that tree and stand myself up I can probably hop home." But as I tried to get myself to the tree .. It just feels wrong ... Like I am being held back by something .. So in fear I stop.

Hmmm. I am getting a little worried ... So, I look around and see this guy and his girlfriend walk by. The guy has a cell phone on his belt.

Now. Mind you. I am laying on the ground , well, sitting on the ground.. kind of lounging ya know?? So, I yell to this guy .."HEY !! Can you call 911 I broke my leg ? " His reply. ."Really?" I convince him that I am being truthful and he calls an ambulance . They come and get me .. take me to the hospital and run some x-rays .

I destroyed my ankle and the ankle joint, cracked in 200 places. Broke my shins in two places . I tell them a crazy lie about how I did it ..but I think I came clean around the time of emergency surgery.

The docs put an external fixator on my leg and then referred me to a specialist ,.. after all was said and done ... I needed one more big operation. Now I didn't have any insurance. I had quit my job the night before all this happened . So, I am pretty much in a big pile of poop.

The Dr. that did the emergency surgery told me of a specialist . Dr. Stephen S.... in Hollywood Fla. He took pity on me and did the job at no cost ... and what a job he did. I am now the proud owner of 2 plates about 20 screws and a few pins. A look at an x-ray of my leg looks like a hand made ladder.

Moral of the story? Slow Down. We get so wrapped up in yesterday and tomorrow that we forget all about today,.. and really, today is all we have. Have a cup of coffee and catch your breath.

"All good things in all good time "....

c2007 Cortez

"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to talk, mad to live, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!”"

--Jack Kerouac