It Could Have Been Worse

Day six of biking began with a trip to the Archeological Museum in Bolzano, mostly about “Otzi the Iceman,” a 5,000-year-old mummy found in a glacier in the Tyrolean Alps in 1991. Hundreds of scientists weighed in on his age and clothing and tools, including discovering that he was probably murdered by an arrow in his back. (Louise Penny, Anthony Horowitz, Laura Lippman and others have a book awaiting them!). 

 

Then a late-morning departure, ritually begun as always gathered in a circle with hands in the center like a basketball team and then shouting, “Day 6!” A promising beginning to the day that had a less promising end.

Out to the third day of a path that mostly followed the river, so no need to stop so often to consult maps. It struck me that it often felt like traveling through tunnels of sound—the drone of the river on one side and the drone of the highway on the other. Or in more musical moments, the non-stop birds on either side and above. I’ve often thought of birds as singing in the mornings and evenings, but the birds here are at it all day long and delightfully so. And then there’s always the song of the wind. 

 

It was a shorter day (hence, the luxury of late morning departure) and as we entered the Medieval town of Klausen/ Chiusa, we treated ourselves to an ice cream stop. We walked our bikes slowly through the town as we headed out, enjoying its considerable charm. Terry parked his bike for a moment and it fell down and the fender was scraping the tire. Dennis (an engineer by profession) had his little tools and was able to fix it. Earlier at a stop, Karen had fallen down and later, Dennis had. The day before, Pam did as well. All minor, but these proved to be bad omens. For a mere 4 kilometers out of town, Gerri didn’t notice a curb and was thrown from her bike. A similar thing had happened three years ago in Slovenia and she emerged with bad bruises, but was able to carry on. This time she was holding her shoulder like something was more seriously wrong. 

 

I managed to find some people who were able to call a taxi and the taxi was a van of sorts that could actually fit Gerri and husband Dennis’s bikes. The driver took the bikes to the hotel and Gerri and Dennis to the hospital, where an X-ray revealed a broken clavicle. Gerri emerged with her right arm in a sling (and fortunately, she’s left-handed) and a three-week prognosis for healing. Both she and Dennis were able to join us for dinner in our new stop in the charming town of Brixen and they seemed in okay spirits.She clearly can’t ride the last leg tomorrow, but the company van will take her and her bike to our last town, so all in all, it could have been worse. And she enjoyed it when I told them the old Yiddish folk tale with the punchline, “Remember. No matter how bad things might seem, it could have been worse.”

 

Gerri then told us the details of being at the hospital and the most astounding revelation was that though she had Kaiser and could get reimbursed for all charges, there were none! The hospital wasn’t the slightest bit interested in getting money from Kaiser. Health care was simply free (obviously paid for by the tax structure) for all, foreigners included. 

 

Which brings us to the next reflection. What the hell is wrong with the United States?!!!!!!!