Tuttle, Dan
I certainly hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!! With schools not in session over the last two weeks, there is nothing to report on anything related to my 'educational' sabbatical. However, there are some other interesting things that CC and I have done that might be of interest to some of you. Along with CC's brother Steve (and his two sons) I experienced my first Ice Hockey game. The tickets (cost and availability) of the U. of Minnesota and the Minnesota Wild (the NHL team) were a bit outrageous so we settled for attending an elite high school tournament. As it turns out, it was a good choice. The games were surprisingly fast-paced and very enjoyable to watch. The games were very clean w/o any of the violence that you would often see in an NHL game. I've become a bit more interested in the game and actually watched the Boston Bruins / Philadelphia Flyers game from Fenway Park yesterday. I enjoyed the high school games much more!
CC, her mom, and I went to see the display of the Titanic at the Science Museum of Minnesota across the Mississippi in St. Paul. It was a very impressive display of photos and artifacts from the sinking of the Titanic. What was most impressive was the personal stories that have emerged over the years after the sinking. Most of the stories that you and I have heard were stories from the affluent people on board. There are even better stories that few people have heard about that came from the less affluent. As we entered the exhibit, we were each given a boarding pass similar to the ones given to the actual passengers. The last room of the exhibit had a display of all the names of the people on board and whether they lived or not. This really seemed to give this exhibit a very human perspective as everyone had to find you whether 'you survived or not'. This exhibit is one of the highlights to our visit here in Minnesota.
The snow and the cold weather came with a vengeance here in Minneapolis. We had a VERY white Christmas with some excellent conditions for sledding (we enjoyed several days of that). One of the days right after Christmas it warmed up to over 30o and some of the snow started to melt which, of course, froze again very quickly as the temperature dropped the next day. As I'm sure most of you know, this sheet of ice creates some hazards just getting around. It then snowed again adding a layer over the ice giving it some traction to be able to go on some walks (and runs) around the lake. I waited until I saw others out running before I ventured out on another run.
Last Wednesday I decided to go a run and was being very careful about the ice. About 3.5 miles into the run I took a fall. To make a very long story short, after a trip to the emergency room, I was told that I had broken my right hand (4th metacarpal) and a broken left wrist. I have an appointment to see an orthopedic surgeon on Monday to schedule some surgeries as the ER docs told me that both hand and wrist will need to be pinned. I'm hoping that the doctor will tell me something better than that … but we'll just have to wait and see. I'm actually feeling very fortunate, as it could've been a lot worse!! We all learn from whatever we experience and I'm sure that there is a lot that I can learn from this experience. For my older Punahou colleagues, I'm sure that you remember fellow science teacher Harold Lee breaking both wrists playing tennis many years ago. I can now get a taste of what it was like for him. Needless to say, this is cramping my style a bit (and CC's too … poor thing) and will delay our travels east. We are still planning to continue on our sabbatical plan as much as possible. I'm feeling as good as can be expected and will be just fine. CC is an absolute gem it taking care of the things that I can't … she is truly amazing!
For those of you who think I've been a little long winded in my blog entries, this set back will certainly fix that problem. I'll let you know more about my recovery and subsequent travel plans as they unfold. Don't ever take the human hand for granted! ALOHA!
CC, her mom, and I went to see the display of the Titanic at the Science Museum of Minnesota across the Mississippi in St. Paul. It was a very impressive display of photos and artifacts from the sinking of the Titanic. What was most impressive was the personal stories that have emerged over the years after the sinking. Most of the stories that you and I have heard were stories from the affluent people on board. There are even better stories that few people have heard about that came from the less affluent. As we entered the exhibit, we were each given a boarding pass similar to the ones given to the actual passengers. The last room of the exhibit had a display of all the names of the people on board and whether they lived or not. This really seemed to give this exhibit a very human perspective as everyone had to find you whether 'you survived or not'. This exhibit is one of the highlights to our visit here in Minnesota.
The snow and the cold weather came with a vengeance here in Minneapolis. We had a VERY white Christmas with some excellent conditions for sledding (we enjoyed several days of that). One of the days right after Christmas it warmed up to over 30o and some of the snow started to melt which, of course, froze again very quickly as the temperature dropped the next day. As I'm sure most of you know, this sheet of ice creates some hazards just getting around. It then snowed again adding a layer over the ice giving it some traction to be able to go on some walks (and runs) around the lake. I waited until I saw others out running before I ventured out on another run.
Last Wednesday I decided to go a run and was being very careful about the ice. About 3.5 miles into the run I took a fall. To make a very long story short, after a trip to the emergency room, I was told that I had broken my right hand (4th metacarpal) and a broken left wrist. I have an appointment to see an orthopedic surgeon on Monday to schedule some surgeries as the ER docs told me that both hand and wrist will need to be pinned. I'm hoping that the doctor will tell me something better than that … but we'll just have to wait and see. I'm actually feeling very fortunate, as it could've been a lot worse!! We all learn from whatever we experience and I'm sure that there is a lot that I can learn from this experience. For my older Punahou colleagues, I'm sure that you remember fellow science teacher Harold Lee breaking both wrists playing tennis many years ago. I can now get a taste of what it was like for him. Needless to say, this is cramping my style a bit (and CC's too … poor thing) and will delay our travels east. We are still planning to continue on our sabbatical plan as much as possible. I'm feeling as good as can be expected and will be just fine. CC is an absolute gem it taking care of the things that I can't … she is truly amazing!
For those of you who think I've been a little long winded in my blog entries, this set back will certainly fix that problem. I'll let you know more about my recovery and subsequent travel plans as they unfold. Don't ever take the human hand for granted! ALOHA!
Comments
David (unauthenticated)
Jan 2, 2010
Yikes Dan! I hope you make a full recovery and aren't in too much pain. I enjoy reading your blogs. Take is slow and easy.
Mike (unauthenticated)
Jan 2, 2010
Dan,
Can't believe you broke your wrist! I have seen people actually take an old pair of running shoes and mount small screws into the soles so that the heads act as cleats for running on the ice. Running in the snow is great, on occasion. Heal well!
Judy (unauthenticated)
Jan 3, 2010
Oh my gosh! What a thing to have happen on your sabbatical. Please take care of yourself. I guess CC must have typed this entry for you!
Mike (unauthenticated)
Jan 4, 2010
http://www.skyrunner.com/screwshoe.htm
Lauren (unauthenticated)
Jan 4, 2010
Hi Dan -- so sorry about your wrist -- and anxious to hear your summary comments about advisory/character ed/chapel experiences along the way! Aloha from SUNNY Hawaii!
Tyra Shimabuku (unauthenticated)
Jan 5, 2010
Hey there! I hope you are okay. I know you must be very sore. I have to admit that I miss the snow (especially at Christmas). I also miss hockey!!!! I remember I was given a hockey stick as one of my presents one year.... I even have the scar still on my forehead from a hockey puck! Take care and get lots of rest on that hand!
Ann (unauthenticated)
Jan 6, 2010
Hi Dan, I've been enjoying your blogs. Sorry to hear about your hand and wrist injury. Take care!
Emily Jampel (unauthenticated)
Jan 7, 2010
OH MY GOSH!
....I can't believe it snowed! I also can't believe you fell and hurt yourself. Oh no!
I hate falling on ice. I always fall on my butt a lot when I go snowboarding but I've never REALLY hurt myself. After you fell, did you have to walk the entire 3.5 miles back to where you were staying? If not, how were you found? (You couldn't use your phone, right?) You told the short version of the story up there, but I'm interesting in hearing the long one. Anyhow...we wish you a safe and quick recovery!
On the bright side...
AT LEAST YOU DON'T HAVE FINALS NEXT WEEK. Ah...I tried to block it out as long as I could but it finally hit me today, that I have four finals next week (some are two in one day). I really need to start studying....
The Titanic Museum sounded SUPER interesting. I actually JUST saw the movie pretty recently, a few months ago. (On a plane, actually...which was a little scary) It definitely sounds like somewhere I'd want to visit sometime.
Good luck with the rest of your trip! (Maybe take it easy on the running...)
Aloha,
Jamps
Rick Manayan (unauthenticated)
Jan 21, 2010
Wow Mr. Tuttle, you're a real trooper aren't you?
Take it easy sir, you only have two hands, you can't afford to lose both of them.
Hope you're having a great 2010 and get well soon!
~Rick.
Sarah Tyler (unauthenticated)
Jan 22, 2010
Hi Mr. Tuttle
First of all, get well soon! I know it sucks to have a broken wrist. Remember what happened to me last year? If you were here I would sign your cast :]
I have something SUPER IMPORTANT to tell you. For my bio honors final i got a B+!!!!! That means I'm getting an A- on my semester grade! I am soooo happy especially because my test average is like 81%. I guess I'm pretty lucky that participation and turning homework in on time counts so much.
Hope you had a good Christmas and New Years, excluding your wrist. What color is your cast? The holidays were kind of hard for my mom's side of the family because my grandma died on January 2, so we're still sort of sad now, but we all feel a lot better.
Just letting you know Emily emailed lots of people to try to get them to comment on your blog :] haha she's awesome. Rick said she'd make a really good grandma because she kind of acts like an old person. Anyway, get better soon!
Sarah
Alison Kamikawa (unauthenticated)
Jan 23, 2010
Hi Mr. Tuttle!
REMEMBER MEEE? HIIII! OH MY GOODNESS THAT'S NOT GOOD! I HOPE YOU GET BETTER! haha. I remember learning those names of all the bones in our body and I would name what you hurt but I forget. Sorry. Get well soon!
HAHAHA! Yes Emily sent us all this email saying you all better leave him a note and we are the awful people not reading his blog. :)
Bio is okay...I got an A-! Everyone is helping me though, like Emily Sarah Sayu Eryn...etc. I was thinking of taking chem over the summer, is that a good choice? Ahhh I don't know...
Finals sucked! But the 5 day weekend after was like better than winter break because we didn't have any homework or anything to worry about! I went to Maui and went to Farrells to get fat and eat SO MUCH ICECREAM! You should try that one day, it was so much fun!
Well, I will try to keep up with your blog!
Alison