David had an unusual use for his phone. I said goodbye to him, and a minute later he called me. He asked, “Could you come and get the neighbor’s dog out of the garage? I need to get to work.”

As David backed out of the garage, the small black dog ran in. David didn’t want to shut the dog in the garage or leave the door open. As soon as I walked out, the dog followed me, and everyone was happy. The dog is a new visitor to our house. Her owner is a neighbor I haven’t written about. I never met the man, and he died in December. We’ve seen the pretty little dog sniffing everything in the pasture and running about the area, but only recently has she come to me. I pet her once or twice, and off she goes again.

John’s phone was the one that was lost briefly. He had been working on the train tracks at the club and had not realized his phone dropped out of his pocket. He would have been greatly concerned if he had known it was missing. The four miles of track are on the side of a mountain, and there are several huge trestles and bridges in the layout. The phone could have been anywhere. It could have dropped in a 20-foot ravine or been lying on the ballast.

Two women in the club walked along the track for exercise. They found John and asked, “Is this yours?”

They were holding his phone. His hand went to his pocket, which of course, was empty.

“How did you find it? I didn’t know it was missing.” he said.

“We were walking and heard a steam engine. The sound was coming from the phone between the rails.”

They were amused, and so was I when I heard the story. A year or so ago I put a ring tone on that phone that has the sound of a steam engine blowing its whistle. The pharmacy happened to call to let John know he had a prescription ready, and that’s when the ladies walked by it.