Chopper

It clattered over the bay for a few minutes before it occured to me it seemed to be stationary over a friends place on the other side of the water. He's a fiercely independent old codger (I'll tell him I published that) who lives alone in an 'off-grid' house, on a steep hillside, surrounded by dense forest.

He gives me tips on scrub-cutting and how to trap possums… I taught him how to fillet a pineapple 😁

His recent whitebaiting trip turned out to be shorter than he'd advertised and I got a message to say he was back and thanks for watering his strawberries (I hadn't - the gods took care of that); so I knew he was at home.

Scuttling round my caravan for a better view I was in time to see someone being lowered out of the air ambulance directly beside his house (nowhere to land over there).

S**T

Turns out he'd dislocated his hip. The new joint had only been installed a couple of months back.  He messaged me later from hospital to say

- "pls look after my strawberries'🍓  and

- they'd given him some happy drugs and he was waiting to have his hip put back in, and

- some people will do anything to get their next fix and a ride in a helicopter."

Pain hadn't dulled his self-deprecating humour.

Once again the gods are watering his strawberries but he apparently was able to walk out when discharged an hour or so later. (His son lives a couple of driveways over from me so had to do the 2 hour drive to fetch him back.) I wonder if he was negotiating the long outdoor stairs to his strawberry garden when.....

Some people will do anything for fresh strawberries.

No photos so here's Scully illustrating a worried look.