My Kingdom for My Phone

My phone! My phone! My kingdom for my phone!

If I had a kingdom... Or would it be a queendom, if I had one?

Yesterday, in the midst of getting from my mom's house to the airport to fly back to Spokane, I forgot to do a final "sweep" of the house to look for my belongings... and left my phone behind. My phone. That thing that is always with me - that I've never lost (unlike a bunch of people I know).

I figured out what I'd done as we drove to the airport - soon enough to make plans with my mom to get it back to me, not soon enough to turn around and go back and fetch it. My mother grasped the urgency of the situation - she's seen my attachment to the darn thing - with its fancy Internet access and all - so she took pity on me and offered to Fed Ex it. It should arrive some time this a.m.

In the meantime though - it's been a bumpy ride. No phone to check messages. No phone to check email. No phone to occupy my free time. Instead, on the way home, I had to - gasp - read the newspaper. And a magazine. I almost had to resort to reading the book I'd brought, but it was stuffed in the luggage, I never could get to it (there were extenuating circumstances).

In my defense, that travel thing shortens my attention span. I'm better off reading short pieces than something long and involved, as I fidget and hope for a quick return to my home town.

The phone itself is turned on in its Fed Ex package, with the ringer off. I've called it a couple times since I got home, to see if I have any messages. Sort of funny, to think I've been calling my mail.

So let's review. First, my computer needed fixing, so I had to leave it in Spokane while I went to El Paso for the week. Then, I forgot my phone. So for several hours yesterday, I was without any access to the outside world (as I traveled through three airports surrounded by masses of people)... I can't believe I'm supposed to let go of my structure or anything, but - hmmm. Maybe I am?

I sit. I wait. I watch the streets. Soon, soon, the Fed Ex guy will drive up, with a package for me... just for me....

photo credit: Shlala, found here