Escapees May-June 2024

then another, each ring very faint. It sounded like it was coming from outside the RV. Because of that little bit of sleep, I was thinking almost clearly. I donned a warm coat, weatherproof shoes and went outside in pjs carry ing my trusty fl ashlight. I yanked open the outside door of the laundry bin and I saw a light. Not the light frommy fl ashlight, but a rectangular light that could only mean one thing. My phone had not died. It was cheerfully ringing for me. Yes! I went back to bed for a peaceful sleep after thanking my two friends and calling off all the ones who had not tried to rescue me. The next day I was only a little late for work because I had to spend some time looking for my fl ashlight. It is true what they say. In life as in business, location is everything. Andrea Flores, Guest Contributor camping chair chat

After moving from a house to anRV, asbe fi ts a few of the folks my age and level of empty nest, I downsized and thus had fewer things of which to keep track. Whenever I lost something, I could cheerfully remind myself that my “house” wasn’t all that big and whatever was lost had no real place to hide. Fast forward to last night: I enjoyed a pleasant evening of dinner, washing dishes and miscel laneous projects. Now, I was ready to go to sleep. For me, there are 11 things to do before settling down for the night. I made a list of all of these tasks because I was tired of getting nicely settled between my yellow sheets and realizing that I had forgotten to take my night-time medication. Or, remembering that I had forgotten to set the alarm. Which brings me right back to the telephcne that used to be wired into the wall. Do you know what else took its energy from the wall? Of course, it was the humble alarm clock that made a predictable noise at a predictable time. Nobody had to go looking for it before setting it. These days, of course, my alarm was a convincing noise on my smart phone—which I could not fi nd. Bouyed up by the fact that my living place was small, I began to look around. Time passed, and I thought of calling my friends to see if they could call me to make the phone ring, however; that idea was soon trashed. If you have followed this story, you know why that wouldn't have worked. On a whim, recalling that I had tossed my phone onto the bed, maybe it was in the dirty-clothes bin along with the clothes I had already forsaken for my pajamas? A silly idea but worth a shot, so I reached into the bin and came out with nothing but the day’s clothes. To go through the entire lump of soiled clothing I would have needed to go outside, dif fi cult to do in pajamas.

I gave up and went to sleep, barely cognizant of the fact that I had to go to work the next day. Maybe I could wake up naturally, turn on my laptop to see the time and all would be well. Beware, those of you who do everything by phone. Do you even own a laptop? I went down at last for a troubled sleep. I dreamed, not kidding, of fi ndingmy phone. I am not writing this article using two thumbs as younger people do. But I must get to the end. In the middle of the night, I had an epiph any. What if I were to email all my really good friends and ask them to ring me! That is exactly what I did! Within an hour or so I heard the faintest ring. I looked around the house and couldn’t fi nd it. Which of my friends was awake and trying to help me? Thank goodness for my laptop and e-mail. I went back to sleep. I heard another ring and

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May/June 2024 ESCAPEES Magazine