Last Friday, we had an unwanted "adventure" - we went about 20 hours without our cell phone, having left it somewhere, we knew not where. That might seem pretty minor, but our cell phone has become a lifeline. It is our only phone - we have not had a landline for years - and so it is our only link with the outside world. Being without it makes one feel vulnerable, especially in case of an emergency. Obviously, for much of the history of the human race, people did not have this convenience, but it has come to feel like a necessity. Also, people text us, send emails or leave voice mail messages, expecting a response. So we feel sort of an obligation to have it handy.
At first, Ellen and I were not sure who had the phone last. Ellen thought she probably had it last and had a mental image of its being on the dining table. It wasn't there. But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed likely that it was I. I took Ellen to Eliza's house at 1pm on Friday, and she met up with Eliza and Robin there for an excursion to the King Arthur Flour outlet up in Norwich, VT - sort of a baker's paradise trip. She did not have the phone with her. I came home briefly after dropping her off, and then went to a Hallowell sing at the Valley Cares Assisted Living Facility up in Townshend, VT. I did not use the phone during that time. But as I thought about it, I remembered calling Keene Gas to find out when we were going to get a propane gas delivery, and that was just before I took Ellen to Eliza's. So that made it seem likely that I had it. But it wasn't in any pocket, or any place it usually is. So that was our situation Friday into Saturday morning. We spent quite a bit of time checking again and again in places it might be, but no luck. So we had to go to bed without it. I did do one thing, though - I went up to the church in Dummerston Center, where there is WiFi, and sent John an email with the computer just to let him know our situation. While I was there, I went to the Consumer Cellular website, and found our call record. That confirmed a call to Keene Gas at 12:42pm on Friday- indeed just before we left for Eliza's. But, it also recorded two calls after that! One was a 4-minute call at about 3:50pm. It took a while for that to register, but I finally remembered that I had talked with Nancy T about the Women's Chorus she wanted us to come to. And then I remembered that I was up in the "museum" at the church (where choir music is stored) when that call happened. So maybe that is where the phone was, and Saturday morning, first thing, I checked that out and sure-'nuf there it was. It's discouraging to realize that I had forgotten that, but there it is. We also have decided that we need to get a second phone.
Yesterday, we had choir at the Dummerston Church, and I was leading. We had a rehearsal Friday evening and it went well. Sunday morning, it snowed and then turned to freezing rain, and I wondered if I would have a choir. But they all came, and three more besides, making a choir of twelve! It was great. The congregation was not much bigger than the choir, because of weather, but we sang well and were much appreciated. The theme for the service was based on I Corinthians 12 - the famous "one body and many members," passage, with the additional theme of a series Shawn has been doing on the UCC "Love Your Neighbor .. no matter their ......." program (fill in the blank - faith, nationality, gender, sexual preference, etc.). This week it was "race." "Love your neighbor, no matter their race." I chose music which reflected both the "one body" theme, plus a variety of sources: Scotland, Korea and African American. It all went really well.
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| The Dummerston Choir, Sunday morning |
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