I broke my leg!

This last summer I broke my right leg while I was visiting my grandmother on Whidbey Island, an island near Seattle, Washington. A few steps past the backyard of my grandmother’s house is the beach. One day I went exploring  on the beach with my friend Michael. Looking for driftwood, we came across a very intriguing clearing. There was a clay wall hidden behind blackberry bush vines. I decided to go in between the wall and the blackberry bushes. I still can't recall why, but I decided to climb up the clay cliff, not knowing the possible consequences. When I was about 15 feet above the ground I realized that it would be very difficult and dangerous to go back down, so I decided to go higher to find an easier way down. Once I was 25 to 30 feet up, I realized the only way down was a very steep slope. My plan was to grab onto trees on the way down and work my way to the bottom little by little. As I was getting into position for the first step down, the root that I was holding broke free of the clay wall and I plummeted down! As I was sliding I realized that something bad was going to happen, but I only thought it would be a sprained ankle and not much more. By the time my feet made impact I was going roughly 15 miles an hour. When I landed, I felt a small pain in my leg but I thought it was just the impact of the landing and in my mind I thought that I had made it. Michael, who was watching me climb and saw me slide down, pointed at my right shin. I looked down to find what appeared to be a second knee a few inches underneath my real knee. All of a sudden, I felt a very sharp pain jolt through my body and at that very moment I realized that I had severely broken my leg. I quickly sat down and positioned my leg up right and was in agonizing pain. My friend ran back to my grandmother’s house to get help as I took cold rocks and placed them near my break to prevent major swelling and because it felt good. I was about a quarter-mile down the beach and it took around 45 minutes for the paramedics/firefighters/police to come and rescue me. They wrapped my leg in a splint and put me on a stretcher. Then they put me on a one wheeled structure to carry me off the beach. I was rushed up to the Coupeville hospital to get x-rays. As it turned out I had severely broken both bones in my leg.  My tibia and fibula were completely cracked in half, as shown on the x-rays below. The doctor said that this was a major injury and I needed surgery. I was then taken by ambulance off the island to Seattle Children’s Hospital, where I had surgery the next day. Titanium rods were inserted into the tibia of my right leg.

Summer Blacksmithing: How I made a Forge on Whidbey Island

This summer on Whidbey Island I made a blacksmith forge. It reached over 2000°F. I made the forge by going to the thrift store and buying a pot, a pan and a hairdryer. At the hardware store, I got long nails, a glue called, "J.B. Weld" and a small metal pipe. I got the J.B. Weld glue because it can get to over 500°F. It was the glue which was the most tolerant to heat that I could find. I then went on the beach that is located in our backyard and found some damp drift wood, squishy, cold clay and found a big block of sparkly coal. Then, I made the forge by first drilling holes in the pan. After, I glued the pan on top of the pot with J.B. Weld. I put a hole in the pot and glued the pipe in it. I attached the hairdryer to the pipe with duct tape. 

I took a hammer and broke the coal down into little pieces. 

Then, I put the little pieces of coal in the top of the forge and lit it. I then turned on the hairdryer and the coals got really hot. I was very excited. The first time I fired up the forge I just flattened a piece of steel. The anvil I used was a piece of railroad track that was given to me by a friend. The next day I fired up the forge, I made a knife from a nail which I had found on the beach.

 Here are some pictures and diagram of it.