g r e a s e r - (get that greaser!)

In 1989, I crashed my 1987 Shadow 750 motorcycle late in the evening - by plowing it straight into a horse on highway 191 Northeast Arizona – literally! From the intersection at Burnside, I accelerated from maybe 4 mph to 55 or 60 mph! It was dark with no moon! I spent most the late afternoon and evening in Ganado – later, I decided to head back to Chinle. I had a helmet which just happened to have a dark tinted visor – for day riding. At night – no way!!! So I was constantly lifting it every now and then…however I had to close it since the air was watering my eyes and the bugs felt like bullets hitting my face…so I would put it down! - I was definitely asking for trouble – a dark tinted face shield and the Dark of the Night do not mix! Let me be the first to tell you…

As I sped out of the intersection, I closed the shield - in an instant I saw a bunch of horses on the road so I swerved to the left misses them barely…remember I had the dark shield on my helmet down…AND THEN, as I came back to right side of the road…A black horse just happen to be centered in my lane…I saw in the split of a second the image of a horse and that was it…sometime later (not too sure the time lapsed), I was awaken by the hot pipes of my bike on my leg…apparently I hit the black horse dead center and we all flew 75 feet or so (police report) and l and bike landed in the middle lane…the horse landed off the road to the right…as I look up…I removed my helmet still pinned by my bike….i kick the bike off me…and continue looking up trying to grasp what just happened…I thought I was in the next world…I thought I saw the universe and how beautiful it was…at a moment I thought I had gone to the otherside…until a some hard lights and the sound of vehicle 1 feet from my head let me know I was alive and well-figured – but in the middle of the road in pitch black rez night!

…I just realized I had hit the horse which made me begin to feel nauseous more, and ready to pass out…before I literally was knocked out – however I felt strength come my way…I was thinking am I dead or am alive…it was the most severe, surreal moment.

In 2002 I shared this with students at Ganado High School during my Career Day Presentation since they asked all kinds of questions about me…soon they called me the ‘greaser’