Snakes, low hanging branches, and Tetanus shots.

The gang was headed to Bandera for 20 miles in the hills this morning. I just wasn't up to it so decided to run for about two hours on the familiar, mostly flat, winding trails at nearby Leon Creek. Tom joined me at 6:30 AM and we started on a leisurely paced run. The trails are single track and overgrown with brush and low hanging branches. Some branches are pretty big too. I have to constantly be pointing out these low branches to most of my friends. Especially the tall ones. At 6'4" Tom has to duck more often than most.
I was telling Tom a story of a childhood friend who came to school one day with a grass snake. He was scaring all the girls and acting tough among the guys as the snake bit him on the arm. The teachers made him release it outdoors and we found out later he was taken to the hospital with an infected arm. Tom told me the story of the BOA he had as a child and how it once bit him. He didn't tell his parents for fear that he may need to have a tetanus shot as was the case when his snake bit a girl who cared for the snake once.
The run was going well. As we descended a short hill, we had to go over a big fallen tree. We slowed, went over the tree and accelerated while ducking under a tree branch when a sharp piece of a broken branch caught the top of Tom's head. Ouch!
Tom touched the top of his head and had blood on his fingers. More than just a few drops. Then blood was free flowing down the back of his neck! I gave him some of my tissue paper. I though about taking my shirt off to give him but then I thought, I don't want to compound the pain with my sweat on his wound.
We got back to our vehicles and I advised him to see a doctor. The gash was at least two inches long dead center on top of his head.
Tom called back later and told me he saw a Doctor, has four stitches on his head, and got a tetanus booster shot! Hopefully this will not negatively affect his rafting trip in Colorado next week.