By Jeff Green 

In high school, I was playing catch with a softball on a fishing trip in northern Minnesota with one of my step-brothers. My attention was distracted as he threw the ball to me and I heard him say "heads up!" This phrase has always puzzled me. Why someone yells "heads up" when something is traveling at a high rate of speed towards another person's head is rather hard to understand. Fortunately for me, I have cat-like reflexes and was able to get my elbow in front of my teeth! The loud crack and ensuing pain made me think my elbow could be broken. I ran inside the cabin and pulled a block of ice out of the freezer to stop the swelling. I remember thinking how I must have really hurt my elbow because it stung so much to have the ice on it, but, I was working with the "no pain, no gain" motto and forcing my self to keep ice on it. After a few more minutes, I couldn't stand the sting of the ice and took it off. To my amazement, there was a one inch by three inch raised portion of skin frozen solid. Apparently mom decided to send dry ice in the cooler for this fishing trip. As it turned out, my elbow was fine from the soft ball but soon turned in to a giant blister from frostbite! Though not a visible scar, I still have no feeling in this spot.