Telephone
Remember the game telephone we played in school, showing how messages get distorted as they are told over and over by different people? Well, this was a great example of it.
“I just heard from the next camp over we have a lost hunter, and he’s got dementia and is known to wander off. There’s a search party forming at the hardware store.” Feeling sorry for the old lost bird, we stuffed the last bite of cheeseburger down our gullets, took a final gulp of coffee and headed out.
Once at the hardware store, we were divided into teams of two and given search zones. While searching our zone with my partner, we headed toward another logging road and spotted a pickup truck headed our way. The driver was shouting at us and waving his arm out the window. We figured the old lost coot found a truck and was trying to summon us for help.
When I get up next to the truck, I’m surprised to see the outfitter. “Are you looking for the lost man too?” I ask. “Get in the truck, knucklehead! You’ve caused enough trouble! I was the one that requested the search party … for you!”
It took a moment for it to sink in. Then, I started laughing. I yelled to my search partner that I was going to ride with the guy in the truck for a bit. The outfitter nonchalantly called the search off, and I got an ear full about following directions.
But it was kind of neat being in a search party looking for myself. Back to Mandy Hale’s words, “Sometimes when you lose your way, you find yourself,” and I kinda did that day.
Happy New Year!
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