not altogether together

I'm hungover, but not in the sense that I am in pain, just tired and a little slow.

Actually that's only partially true. A long time ago, I was swimming in the ocean off the Outer Banks in North Carolina. It was... 1993 and a hurricane had come through the week before, so there was a lot of chop in the water. The waves were coming in diagonally across the beach. Not that it matters I suppose.

I was standing in the water about waste deep facing the beach saying something to my girlfriend of the time, can't remember what, and I didn't notice this right away, but, the water started draining out to sea very fast, until the water level had gone down to my ankles. I looked down to my feet, wondered what this was all about, and turned around to see where the water was going. When I turned around my eyes followed the water from my feet, all the way to the top of the wave that was about twice as tall as me. Before I could react the wave picked me and drove me head first toward the ground. I was facing chest down, underwater, and the power of the wave was trying me bend me backwards, my legs over my back, over my head.

If you have ever snapped a branch across the shin of your leg, you know the feeling of the wood the moment just before it gives way and breaks in two.

That is how my spine felt at that moment. Spooky.

I fought as hard as I could, not to break, not to drown and as fast as it came the water left. I lifted myself out of the water disoriented and my right arm hung useless at my side. It wasn't broken, but it had been dislocated at the shoulder. Only for a moment thank God, but what a fucking strange pain that is. My arm slowly recovered but for awhile afterwards I had spams in the muscles, and in certain positions my arm would get weak and couldn't hold its own weight. I never experienced a dislocated shoulder before, and I really wouldn't recommend it. It's not the worst thing I've ever felt, but it is strange feeling...

So I wake up this morning and try to lift myself up out of bed and damn if that arm didn't feel exactly like the time it was dislocated. I remember all of the night as far as I can tell, so I'm not really sure what I did to screw up my shoulder in such a way... maybe it will always be a mystery.

Also, there was a sharpie pen in my bed and a business card duct taped to my shirt.

It was a good night.