Broken limb

Broken Limb

Broken tree branch, plaster, bandages, crutch

The idea for this piece came to me quite suddenly while I was collecting wood for a bonfire. Like a responsible little fire starter, I was looking for dead wood and I was quite lucky to come upon two massive trees, fallen onto one another. They checked all my boxes, off the ground, dead, and dry I had the bonfire equivalent of striking oil. As I began to prune I slowly got greedier and greedier, pulling off bigger and bigger branches, all the while picturing the massive flames my fire would produce. I had collected all the branches within my reach but one. A hefty limb, bent against the trunk of the tree that fell upon its body. I pulled and I pulled as hard as I could, wrenching back and forth, until finally, all at once, I heard a massive snap. Before I could fully register the sound the branch came at my face full swing and smacked me square in the forehead. I was left on the ground feeling dizzy, confused, and fully concussed, the branch was laying on top of me. For the next week I had a bump the size of an egg in between my eyes, making me look like an adolescent unicorn. When people asked me what happened I told them I got into a fist fight with a tree, but they should see the other guy, and I would show them this picture.