my one year anniversary

in the Fellowship of the Nine Fingers. There are actually quite a few people throughout history who have been missing at least a part of a finger. I found this list today. Phil Keaggy is also missing the middle finger on his right hand, which he lost in an accident with a water pump on the family farm when he was a young boy.

I lost the tip of my left middle finger last year when I stupidly tried to unclog a snowblower while it was still running. In my defense, I had already cleared the snowblower of two previous clogs, with the thing shut down. I wasn't able to get through the clog with my hand on those attempts, and thought that I would only scoop out the snow in the "safe area" of the chute. I was wrong, and my hand slipped through the snow, into the moving parts of the snowblower.

I've been able to play guitar, coach high school baseball, go rock climbing, kayaking...alll the things that I did before the accident.

Kids, don't stick your fingers in the snowblower, especially when it's running.