Enjoying the chirping birds, the blossoming trees, the fresh greenery, and the spring flowers, I walked my favorite 10-kilometer loop through the Ooijpolder. A friend texted me from work, and I sent her some photos of my walk that were sure to make her jealous. Then I put my phone back in the inside pocket of my jacket (or so I thought).
A few kilometers further on, I decided to take another photo that would make people jealous, and that’s when I realized my phone wasn’t in my inside pocket. Slightly panicked, I searched my jacket pockets and my backpack, but no phone. How could that be? I walked back along the winding path, searching, and then a few more times……
As I was searching through my coat pockets and my backpack for the umpteenth time, another hiker walked up to me. She wondered why I was emptying my backpack in the middle of the polder. She asked if she should call me. Good idea! My phone was set to vibrate, but maybe I’d still be able to hear it. She called, but unfortunately we didn’t hear a thing. She suggested she keep calling while I continued searching the area.
Brilliant idea
After an hour of walking back and forth, I’d had enough. It was hopeless. Suddenly, I had a brilliant idea: my daughter could see where my phone was on her phone. Relieved, I approached a passerby. She was willing to look up my daughter’s phone number and give her a call! My daughter figured it out right away and saw that the phone was somewhere between the dike and the Waal River. The good news was: the phone wasn’t moving. She’d come to me as soon as possible to help me look for it.
I decided to keep looking while I waited. For the umpteenth time, I walked back and stared at the ground near the spot where I thought I’d taken the last photos. For the second time, I thought, “There it is,” but it was just a piece of black wood. I was completely exhausted by then when I suddenly heard something…. At the source of the sound, I saw my phone’s screen light up in the mud. What a relief that was!! On the screen, I saw “21 missed calls.” The hiker had kept calling me, just as she’d promised. I called her right back to thank her!
New hiking shoes
By then, I’d been walking for six hours. I decided to keep walking “just a little while longer” to pick up my new walking shoes. At the store, I tried on the new shoes while telling the shopkeeper about my adventure. I looked at him with satisfaction and said these shoes felt much more comfortable than the old ones. The shopkeeper laughed and said that any shoes would probably feel more comfortable after a walk like that. He had a point!
Fortunately, it’s not the age
The next morning, my daughter texted to ask if I was happy to have my phone back. I said yes, but didn’t mention how tired I was. I was surprised by how tired I felt, since I walk a lot. Maybe my age was starting to catch up with me?
A few days later, at the National Contact Day organized by the OOG in OOG Association, I attended the workshop on fatigue and seeing with one eye. That’s when I realized it wasn’t my advancing age that was making me so tired. It was because I was trying to see with just one eye. For the second time that week, I was immensely relieved!
Anita Hol-Bubeck
