Losing a cellphone - it is fun to be superstitious

by pwax
Warning, personal, not rock-pile related:

When I found that gurgling brook hollow with the most excellent large pile, my impulse was to call Friend From Carlisle (FFC) and brag about it, so I fiddled in my pocket to find my cell phone - but it was gone. I had had a spill earlier which must have been when I lost it. It is funny, as I approached a little outcrop that seemed like a ceremonial spot, I tripped and fell to my knees and the thought came to me that the gods wanted me to be humble and approach properly - on my knees. I remember laughing at the thought because it is fun to be superstitious. Apparently they wanted to strip me of my modern technology as well, and I guessed this was where the phone dropped out of my shirt pocket. Losing my cellphone was upsettng. It was only when I got back to my car and was sure I had not left the phone there, that I knew it was lost. But I was tired from the long walk, thirsty, and did not think I would be able to find it anyway.

Later when I called FFC, he insisted we go back out and look for it. So the next day I took him to see the hollow with the gurgling brook, and tried very hard to retrace my step in getting there. I had figured out over night that it was when I took the spill that I was most likely to have lost the phone but there were several very similar outcrops and I was not confident of finding the correct one in a woods which is largely un-differentiated sloping ground with views blocked by pine saplings in all directions. Anyway he and I walked along until we got to one possible outcrop, so I said: go ahead and phone my number. Sure enough my lost cellphone rang right at my feet. Even so, it was invisible underneath a dead leaf and took a few minutes and another phone call before I located it.