Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

It was a hot and humid day. The thermometer said it was 103 degrees.  I decided to stay inside and read about some new technology that could help me type faster.

By 8 p.m. I just had to get outside. It was still warm, but not as humid, and there was a gentle breeze.

I started to type a column.  I type my columns by texting.  It is slow, but it works.

I knew the battery on my phone was getting low, but all of the sudden my phone died.

Since I can’t walk without assistance, my routine is to call my husband’s phone when I need anything whenever I am outside.  I needed a power cord for my phone.

It was starting to get dark so I knew he would be out soon to help me into the house. There was no reason to panic, but what would I do? Without the use of my phone I had nothing to do! 

All of the sudden I thought, “This is perfect thinking time,” and that’s what I did. I thought about what I would have been doing on a warm day like this 20 years ago.  There would have been about 10 kids in the driveway having a water fight. I would have been on the deck supervising to make sure nobody got hurt.

When the kids got tired, I would have helped them pick up all of the popped water balloons in the driveway, and one of my kids would have brought out the popsicles for everyone.  It would have been a fun day for the kids.  I probably would have been stressed out being the parent in charge of complete chaos, but sometimes I still miss those days.

As I sat there thinking, the blue Christmas lights lining the roof of the porch blinked on.  They shimmered in the dark making the porch look like a ballroom. I liked the effect and convinced my husband to leave them up all year.

Staring into the night’s sky, I thought about how much I was enjoying this quiet time filled with memories and fireflies.

I guess I didn’t need my phone after all.