Cell Phone Thoughts

I was in that last minute rush of gathering the almost-forgotten things as I headed out the door on my way to a week of camping in Vermont with my family. Well, I had part of my family – I was taking Dee Dee and Little Dudely a day before my husband would join us with Pookie. The advance team was to set up camp: two “bubba” tents that in theory would sleep a combined 10 people, our kitchen/dining room picnic table and so on. We needed to get settled so Dee Dee would be ready for her camp to start the next morning at 9a.

Damp would be a way to describe the weather. Always threatening to rain, rarely actually doing it. Drizzle, sure. Humidity, yup. Rain? Not often. So who was I to complain? OK, the one bout of rain we did get in our first three days was only five minutes long but happened as out tent was up and we were trying to get the rainfly on. It’s hard not to laugh.

That bit of rain, happening so early, was enough to send me running to the store to purchase a canopy for our picnic table. I had intended to do without cover or use a tarp to shelter the table, but there simply wasn’t a useful arrangement of trees for us. The canopy however, was perfect.

In fact, most of the week was perfect in many ways. Dee Dee loved camp and camping. Little Dudely entertained himself with fire and sticks and explorations. Both of them went so far as to admit they rather enjoyed not having TV or computers for a week. Pookie, on the other hand, was a good sport. She's not one for camping but gamely sat by the fire and made Dad sing songs to his ukulele - Brown Bear, Brown bear, please. Animals only. Now only colors. Now just the noises. Dad was a good sport too granting all her wishes.

Anyway, as I reached for my backpack and purse and such on my way out the door I saw my cell phone still charging on my desk. “Man, it would be nice if that thing was ever fully charged” I laughed. It’s my fault it isn’t ever charged. I never plug it in. I think on some level I don’t really value it enough to bother.

But that’s not why I laughed. My cell phone is a reflection of me. Wouldn’t it be nice if I was ever fully charged? I never plug myself into nurturing, regenerative activities. I think on some level I don’t really value myself enough to bother. What’s the deal with that? What would life look like if I did value myself enough to keep myself fully charged? Why is it so hard for me to do that?