We just finished fishing as the
graupel (yes it is a real word) started to hit us in the face. Fishing in the mountains is always
unpredictable. You can have snow
in July, rain in December and yes, graupel in May. (I know you looked it
up. I saw you.)
We piled into the car and tossed
the fishing poles into the back along with the snack bag, folding chairs,
umbrella, gloves, hats, scarves, fishing net and the tackle box. Fishing requires “stuff”. We decided to show our niece, who was
visiting, the other two little reservoirs on the mountain and enjoy a short
little drive in the mountains. We
made the turn and started the winding switchbacks down, then up, then down
again until our oldest asked us to stop.
His hand still smelled like fish and wanted to wash it a little with the
remaining water bottle water out the door.
We stopped. He washed (as best as
you can when you have a cast on your arm). We continued. Fish smell now
tolerable.
My husband slowed as we came to
the top of the road where we waited for a huge F450 like truck to move along
and finish their sightseeing. The
clouds had moved in and the rain was due any moment as we showed her some of
our other fishing spots and how low the water line was.
Just then, our fishy hand boy
asked if I had his phone, which I did not. He frantically searched his pockets, patted down his jacket,
unbuckled and searched the seat when he remembered he heard a “gravel” like
sound when we stopped for him to wash his hand.
(This is when I took a deep
breath and shook my head and did everything I could not to roll my eyes at
him.)
”You heard a ‘gravel’ sound?”
“Yeah, when we stopped. I bet it fell out of the car.”
Well, let’s just say, if you’re a
bettin’ kind of fella, this is a hands down sure thing put everything you have
left on this bet. You are sure to
come out smellin’ like a rose and not fish.
We couldn’t turn around as it was
a one-way loop, so continued into the loop one more time and slowly made our
way around the corner, only to see our Mr. F450 in front of us making the loop
once again as well. We all sat on
the edges of our seats and peered out the windows looking for a “flat” phone,
when my husband spotted it face down.
He stopped and our son opened his door and let out a huge sigh of relief
as his picked it up with no scratches, no broken screen and no F450 tire marks.
(You can make your way to the
betting window to collect your winnings now.)
One lucky kid. He said someone must have been
looking out for him and we all smiled and I shook my head once again and know I
rolled my eyes in disbelief. That
is one lucky kid.
Well, I know you think the story
ends here…but it doesn’t.
We made our way back to the house
and our youngest begged to have a fire in the fire pit to finish off the cool
damp day. It felt wonderful
and we all curled up in our chairs and watched the flames and the smoke and
laughed again how lucky our son was to have found his phone unscathed. The night settled in and the fire
smoldered as we headed in for the night.
An hour passed.
While I was tucking in our
youngest for the night, our oldest hollers from the doorway with the home phone
in his hand, “Hey, mom, I’ll be right back. I’m gonna go outside for a minute.”
Outside at 10 o’clock at
night? Does he really think I’m
not going to question that? I
peered out the bedroom window to see him walking around in the dark with the home
phone to his ear.
Are you kidding me? Did he really lose his phone AGAIN?
Twice in one day? I started laughing and just watched him
look under the chairs, around the fire pit, in the grass, on the deck. I couldn’t stop smiling.
He came back in and finally told
us he couldn’t find his phone and we just laughed. He called it over and over again and then heard it buzzing
in the closet. It was in the
coat pocket of my jacket. How it
got there, we will never know. (Or
should I say, I will never tell!)
We all had a good laugh and
headed upstairs for the night. The
day had finally came to a close. I couldn't stop thinking how lucky that kid is if I say so myself. Someone is definitely looking out for him. Definitely.
