Summer Breeze Makes Me Feel Fine - Sorta

The other night, we enjoyed a wonderful summer evening outside. We had just finished a delightful and filling dinner when we went outside and breathed deeply of the cool, darkening sky. Lee suggested we start a fire in our poolside fire pit. The family wholeheartedly agreed. So we sat around the fire, barefoot and relaxed, and stared into the fluttering embers as the welkin above turned to black velvet. Ahhh, peace. Quiet. Tranquility.

Until we heard a shriek of pain.

Abby had asked for and received Lee's heavy duty LED flashlight to explore the night with. While squatting to creep under something, she dropped the heavy metal light square on her big toe.

There was blood everywhere. On her hands, the cement, her foot, her shirt, her chin, the flashlight, everywhere.

After we cradled her inside to the bathroom, dripping blood everywhere, we saw that her toe nail was cracked solidly in half. If you have a weak stomach, don't scroll any further. But I had to document it with a photo, so bear down!

Here's a black and white photo of it after it was cleaned up.

It's clear the nail will blacken and possibly fall off. Poor kid. But we cleaned it up and were careful with the nail for 48 hours, so it might stay on.

Here it is one week later. It turned out not to be as bad as we were guessing - which is nice. Still, you can see the bruising and the solid crack. Ouch!

Why can't summer evenings last? And why does growing have to be so painful?