DOOMSCROLLING

I was sitting on my couch, scrolling through my phone, when I heard my son Alex in the kitchen making his lunch.

“Did you hear Tim Curry passed away?” I called to him.

“Who?”

“Tim Curry.”

Alex came around the corner from the kitchen. “Never heard of him.”

“What?” I shook my head. “He starred in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

“Oh, yeah.” He nodded his head. “I heard about that movie.”

“Dolly Parton passed away, too.” I sighed as I kept scrolling. “I liked her music.”

“Why are you doing that?”

“Doing what?”

“Doomscrolling.” He came over to me and held out his hand. “How about I take that for now and maybe you could do something else?”

I held my phone closer to my chest. “I don’t want to give you my phone.”

“You know it’s already noon.” He pointed to my pj’s. “You’ve been on the couch looking through your phone since you got up.”

“It’s my day off.” I argued. “I don’t feel like doing anything right now.”

“I’m making some chicken salad.” He said as he walked back toward the kitchen. “How about I make both of us a sandwich and we can eat out on the back deck.”

I looked out the window. It was a beautiful day out. “Okay. That sounds nice.”

I got up and plugged my phone into the charger then headed for the kitchen. “What can I do to help?”

Alex was cutting up the chicken. “You can get me the mayo out of the fridge.”

“Sounds good.” I opened the refrigerator and pulled out the jar of mayo. “Here you go.” I set it on the counter top.

As I watched him add the mayo I began drumming my fingers on the toaster in front of me.

“What are you doing?” He asked pointing the spoon he was holding at my fingers.

“Oh.” I looked down at my hands and stopping.

Alex eyes got big. “You’re going through phone withdrawal aren’t you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You want to go get your phone, don’t you?”

“Well…” I sighed. “Maybe.”

“You still don’t think you have a problem?” He laughed.

“I didn’t say that.” I countered. “I’m just not sure I want to do anything about it right now.”

Alex handed me a plate with the sandwich on it. He then reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone and placed it on the counter top. “How about we both eat without our phones.”

I looked over my shoulder to where my phone was in the living room and sighed. “I guess I can give it a shot.”

GHOST TOWN

I was sitting on my back deck, leaning forward in my chair and scanning our back yard, when my husband Steven came outside. “What are you looking for?” He asked.

I pointed to the bird feeders. “I filled them two days ago and I haven’t seen a bird, chipmunk, squirrel, or even a rabbit for the past few days.”

Steven looked confused. “That’s strange.” He went down the steps to the feeders. “They’re completely full!” He called back to me.

Just then our son Alex came outside. “What are you guys up to?”

“Your Mom’s worried that no ones been visiting her bird feeders the last few days.” Steven answered as he came back up the stairs to the deck.

“That’s probably because the Cooper hawk has been sitting on the railing of our deck for the last few days.” He said.

“What?” I cried.

“Yeah, he was perched on the railing yesterday checking out your bird feeders.”

“Well, that answers that question.” Steven said as he sat down next to me.

“Great.” I sighed. “He’s chased all my little friends away.”

“They’ll come back once he’s out of the area.” Steven reassured me.

“Maybe.” I leaned back in my chair. “But right now he’s making my back yard into a ghost town.”

Just then we heard the sharp, rapid call of the Cooper hawk. All three of us looked up in the trees.

“There he is!” Alex called as he pointed at the top of one of our pines.

“Go away!” I called up to him.

Steven and Alex both looked at me.

“What?” I shrugged my shoulders. “He’s messing with my bird and small critter guests.”

We watched as he swooped down from the tree. His coppery brown feathers mixed with the white of his chest flew past our porch and up over the roof of our house.

“You have to admit he’s a beautiful bird.” Steven said as he leaned back in his chair.

“Pretty or not I just want him to find another hunting area.”

A few seconds later our pair of hummingbirds whizzed by our deck and headed for their feeder. “At least those two aren’t afraid of the hawk.”

Alex laugh. “I’m pretty sure they’re too fast for the hawk.”

“And definitely not worth the effort for such a tiny snack.” Steven added.

“Hey!” I cried.

“What?” Steven laughed as he shook his head. “I’m just stating the obvious.”

“You two still need to be careful.” I called to the hummingbirds as they were busy chasing each other away from the feeder. “Hawks can be tricky and you two are distracted with fighting over who’s going to get a drink first.” I shook my head.

We heard the sharp call of the hawk again and both hummingbirds quickly flew into the woods.

I nodded my head as I looked over at Alex and Steven. “See? They were listening.”

SPOON PLEASE

My husband Steven and our son Alex and I were at one of our favorite summer dinner spots, the boardwalk.

We were walking along the boardwalk, watching the seagulls swoop down looking for any food left unattended, when we stopped for a slice of pizza. Sitting down at a table we watched as the last of the beach visitors were leaving the sand. Once we were done it was time to walk off dinner with a stroll to the end of the boardwalk where the Inlet cut in between the beaches. We found an empty bench and sat down. We love watching the boats try and navigate the rough waters as they leave the Ocean and enter the inlet heading for their boat slips further inland.

We saw a large commercial fishing boat, with a seasoned crew on board, that may have been out for several days making its way back to the inlet along with daily charter boats filled with clients that were out for a six hour adventure.

The tide was changing and the water was especially unpredictable. “You’ll never see me out on a boat in that kind of water.” I said as we watched a wave swamp the back of a boat.

Alex laughed. “You don’t like being on a boat in the middle of a lake with no waves, either”

I nodded in agreement. “That’s true.” I shrugged my shoulders. “What can I say? I’m not a fan of dark water.”

“Well, you know what I’m a fan of?” Steven said.

I looked over at him. “What?”

“Ice cream!” He laughed as he got up from the bench.

“That sounds like a good idea.” I agreed.

Strolling back the way we came we stopped at an old fashioned ice cream shop. “I’ll grab a seat while you guys get your ice cream.”

“Don’t you want anything?” Steven asked.

I shook my head. “No thanks. I’m still full from the pizza.”

Once I was seated I couldn’t help but admire the little ice cream/candy store. It had been on the boardwalk for close to 100 years, weathering hurricanes and nor’easters and yet was still standing.

Steven and Alex came over to the table.

“Dad got you mint chocolate chip.” Alex said as he handed me a napkin.

I looked over at Steven as he placed the cup of ice cream in front of me. “But I said I didn’t want any.”

“You know you didn’t mean it.” He laughed as he handed me a plastic spoon. “You almost had to eat it with your fingers though.”

“What?” I was confused as I took the spoon and dipped it into my ice cream.

“The new law went into affect.” Steven looked over at Alex. “What’s it called again?”

“’Skip the stuff ‘ law. You don’t automatically get plastic silverware anymore. You have to ask for it.”

“Well…” I sighed as I ate a spoonful of ice cream. “I guess we could always go back to what this store did a hundred years ago and use the little wooden spoons again.”

“Or just get a cone.” Alex added.

“Maybe we could just do what my Dad used to do.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the memory.

“What?” Alex asked.

“My Dad always had a metal spoon in his shirt pocket!”

Steven was laughing, too. “I remember that!” He looked over at Alex. “When I asked him why he carried one he said, ‘You never know when someone’s going to offer you a bite of their food.’”

“Are you serious?” Alex laughed.

I nodded. “Totally! We used to laugh about it!” I looked over at Steven and shook my head. “Now, I’m beginning to think he was just ahead of his time.”

HIBISCUS FRIEND

I had just gotten home from a week long visit with my sister. While I was back sitting on my porch I couldn’t help but wonder how my North Carolina hibiscus friend was doing.

I grabbed my phone to call my sister. “Morning! Do you miss me?” I laughed when she picked up.

“I do!” She laughed. “I’m out on my porch having some coffee.”

“How’s my little hibiscus friend?” I asked.

The first morning I was there, we were sitting on her screened in porch when she pointed to the little green lizard sitting on her hibiscus plant.

“Is that a gecko?” I asked as I got closer to the screen to see him.

Just then he puffed up his throat which turned a bright red against the neon green of his body.

“What the heck!” I laughed as I stepped back. “What are you?”

I looked over at Liz, who shrugged her shoulders. “They’re some kind of little lizard. I just know they love that plant.”

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Well, now I need to know what he is.”

After typing ‘green lizard in North Carolina’, a picture of our little friend came up on the screen. “It’s an anole.” I held up the phone to show her. “And your hibiscus plant is a five star hotel for him!”

“Really?” Liz took a sip of her coffee. “Well, I know they’re always on it.”

I looked back at my phone. “They like your hibiscus because it’s the perfect shade of green for camouflage, the flowers attract bugs for eating, and the leaves hold enough rain water for them to drink.” I looked back at the anole. “You’ve got it made here!” I said to him.

He puffed up his throat again. “Why does he keep doing that?” I began typing in my phone again. “Oh, it says it does that when he feels threatened.” I stepped back a little further. “Sorry, little guy. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Just then I felt one of Liz’s cats brush up against my leg, his tail flicking as he stared out the screen at the anole.

“So it’s you who’s scaring my new little friend!” I shooed him back into the house before sitting back down.

“The cats love watching him and all the birds at the feeder.”

I looked over at her bird feeder where several types of birds were jockeying for the best place to land.

“Well, now I want a pet anole!” I sighed.

Liz laughed. “I’m pretty sure New Jersey would be too cold for them in the winter.”

“True.” I admitted. “I guess I’ll just have to be happy with the chipmunks in my yard.”

“You know, now that you mention it, I’ve never seen a chipmunk here.” Liz said as one of the cats jumped up on her lap.

“Okay, now that’s only fair.” I laughed. “You get anoles and I get chipmunks. Both are adorable and we each get one.”

“There you go.” She laughed as she placed the cat on the ottoman in front of her and got up. “I’m going back in to make another cup of coffee. Do you want anything?” She asked.

“I’m good.” I said pointing back at the anole. “I’ll just be visiting with my new little friend until you get back.”

STORMS UP AND DOWN THE EAST COAST

I was sitting on the porch of my sister Liz’s house in North Carolina when the alert came over my phone. ‘STORMS UP AND DOWN THE EAST COAST’.

“Oh, no!” I said as I held the phone out to my sister. “I wonder what this is going to do to my flight back home tomorrow?” I was suppose to be heading back to New Jersey.

Liz looked up my flight for the next day. “It says your flight’s still on time.” She read.

“Well, there’s no use worrying about it today.” I sighed as I leaned back in my rocking chair and watched the hummingbirds flit around her salvia plants.

The next morning I was up and packed. “I’m ready!” I called as I wheeled my suitcase out of the bedroom.

“It’s still saying your flight’s on time.” She said as we headed out to the car.

Pulling into the airports drop-off lane we said our goodbyes at the curb and I rolled my bag into the airport.

An alert immediately sounded on my phone. ‘Your flight has been delayed for three hours.’ It read.

I sighed as I texted my sister the news.

“Do you want me to come back and pick you up?” She texted back.

“I’m good. I’ll just wait it out.” I texted back.

Several hours later, after many delays, our flight was ready to board. Lightning was flashing in the distance as I struggled to get my bag in the overhead. Once I was seated I let out a sigh of relief feeling that after all the delays I was still going to be sleeping in my own bed that night.

They had just closed the cabin door when the pilot came on the intercom. “Excuse me folks but there’s a back up at Newark airport. They aren’t going to let us take off just yet but we’re going to push back from the gate and find a safe place on the runway to wait out the storm.”

Groans and the sounds of babies crying met the announcement.

Hours later we were still riding around the tarmac waiting for the perfect weather window. We’d already been served the ‘secret’ cookie stash they reserved for just these occasions and given a glass of water.

Each time the pilot came on the intercom, giving us some hope of take-off, the crowd was believing him less and less. After we’d spent four hours tooling around the tarmac, from one parking space to the next, it seemed the pilot was also beginning to give up hope and mentioned there was a strong possibility that we might be called back to the gate.

Loud groans and babies crying, now that it was way past their bedtimes, commenced.

His fateful mistake was immediately after saying we could be headed back to the gate that he came back on the intercom and said we’d been given another window of clearer weather and there was still hope for a take-off.

A few of the mother’s of the crying babies were voicing their concerns when out of the crowd a single voice called out “JUSTICE FOR THE BABIES!” She not only said it once but twice. I’m assuming she was hoping others would join in on the chant but instead everyone got quiet, even the babies. That’s when she added, “I’M ABOUT TO LOSE IT HERE!”.

Within seconds the pilot came back on the intercom and said we were going back to the gate and that there was no chance of taking off today.

As we were taxiing back to the gate I couldn’t help but wonder, was our imminent de-boarding about the weather or was it the screaming woman who called off our flight?

I guess I’ll never know. But looking on the bright side she has given me a new catch phrase about justice!

PERFECT PACKING

I was in my bedroom busy packing for a trip to see my sister Liz. While I was holding up different pieces of jewelry, trying to match them to the outfits that were laid out on my bed, my husband Steven was suddenly standing next to me.

“Oh, my gosh!” I cried as I jumped a few feet away from him almost dropping the necklaces I was holding. “I didn’t hear you come in!”

“Sorry.” Steven sighed as he shook his head. “No matter how much noise I think I’m making coming into the room you never seem to hear me.” He leaned over and gave me a kiss before looking over my shoulder. “How’s the packing going?”

“Well, so far I’ve decided which tops I’m bringing.” I held up two different necklaces. “But now I’m trying to decide which pieces of jewelry goes best with each top.”

“I like that one.” Steven pointed to the one in my left hand.

“Oh, thanks.” I placed the one in my right hand on top of the outfit. “But I think I’m going to go with this one.”

“Well…” Steven sighed shaking his head again. “I’m glad I could help.”

“You did help!” I said as I pointed to the suitcase. “You brought this down from the attic for me!”

“You’re welcome.” Steven sat at the edge of the bed. “So do you have a lot of fun things planned while you’re visiting Liz?”

“You know Liz! She’s got a whole itinerary written.” I smiled as I looked at the bathing suits lined up on the bed trying to decide which one was going to come with me. I held up the winning suit. “Just in case we have time to visit the pool.” I said as I dropped it in the suitcase.

“What else do you have planned?” He asked.

“Oh, you know…girl stuff.” I said as I moved on to getting more things out of my closet.

“That seems vague.” Steven said.

“Well, it depends on the weather, what we’re in the mood to do, and if we even feel like getting out of our pj’s that day.”

“That doesn’t sound like a lot of fun.” Steven said.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” I laughed. “I won’t have to cook or clean all week and if we feel like watching movies and eating snacks all day that’s what we’re going to do.” I dropped several pairs of pj’s in the suitcase. “It sounds like the perfect vacation to me!”

I turned around and my son Alex was standing next to me. I jumped again. “When did you get in here!” I cried. “I didn’t hear you come in!”

Alex shook his head and looked over at Steven. “She never hears us when we come in the room.”

“I swear I’m thinking about attaching bells to both of you so I can hear when you’re coming!” I laughed.

Alex shook his head. “Never going to happen.”

Steven looked over at Alex. “Your Mom just told me she’s going to hang out with Aunt Liz watching movies and eating snacks all week.”

“That’s not all we’re going to do!” I cried.

“Oh, that’s right.” He corrected himself. “You’re going to do ‘girl stuff’.” He used air quotes for the girl stuff.

“Exactly!” I tucked a book under my clothes.

“Well, we’re going to be doing ‘guy stuff’ here while you’re gone.” Steven said as he looked at Alex.

Alex looked confused. “What’s that suppose to mean?”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea. But I guess we’ll find out while your Mom’s away.”

“Well, you two enjoy yourselves!” I said as I zipped up my suitcase and pulled if off the bed. “I know I will!”

BOOK ADDICTION

“Just finished another one!” I said as I closed the cover of my book, tossed it next to me on the couch, and reached over to grab my cup of tea.

“What was this one about?” my son Alex asked.

“Oh, you know, another family drama where everyone is battling each other but in the end they realize they love one another and it all works out.” I explained as I took a sip of my tea.

“Okay.” Alex starts to laugh. “Sounds like it was a great book.”

I put my cup down on the coffee table. “Did you know that in the 1800’s it was considered

unhealthy to read?”

“Really?” Alex sat down on the couch and picked up the book I’d just put down, flipping it over to read the back cover. “Why?”

“Doctors claimed reading caused ‘hysteria’ and nervous breakdowns in women.” I looked over at him raising my eyebrows. “They also said that reading caused brain activity that would divert blood flow away from the womb so you’d hurt the baby if you were pregnant!” I couldn’t help but laugh. “They also claimed that woman who read would abandon their housework and childcare.”

Alex started laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope.” I held up one hand in the air and the other over my heart. “Totally swear. That’s what they thought.”

“Sounds like they really didn’t want women reading back then.” Alex said as he tossed the book back on the couch.

“They only wanted men reading what they thought of as serious books like history, law and science. But they didn’t want them reading novels either because they thought it would affect their ability to work.”

Alex looked confused. “How’s that suppose to stop them from working?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess they thought reading novels would make them lose track of time and they’d forget to go to work.”

Alex shook his head. “It’s kind of what they say about computer games now.”

“Well…” Now it was time for me to question that analogy.

Alex held up his hand. “Hear me out.” He said. “If some guy reads a fictional story for two hours it’s considered ‘higher education’ but have him play video games for the same amount of time and he’s addicted!”

“But people can get caught up in video games and spend the entire day playing!” I argued.

Alex looked at his watch. “As opposed to you reading for the last two hours?”

“It’s different.” I argued.

Just then my husband Steven came into the room. “Hey, what’s for dinner?” He asked as he was passing through the room.

I looked at my watch and saw that it was already dinner time and I hadn’t even started it yet. “Well…”

Alex held up my book, a smile on his face. “Well?” He asked.

“It’s not an addiction!” I cried. “I can stop anytime I want!”

Steven looked confused. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Nothing.” I sighed as I got up from the couch. “I’m starting dinner right now.”

HIDDEN TREASURE

My son Alex opened the door to the back porch, where I was already sitting having my first cup of tea.

“Morning!” He said. “You’re finally able to sit outside.”

“It’s beautiful out!” I said as I leaned back in my rocking chair. “I think this is the first time I’ve been able to sit outside since I started my summer vacation!” I turned around to smile at him. “But now that the heat wave has finally broken I’m loving it out here!”

Alex laughed. “I’m glad.” He stepped outside and closed the door behind him. “I was about to make some eggs, do you want any?”

I shook my head. “I already ate.”

Alex stood next to my chair. “Oh, what did you have?”

I stopped rocking. “Ummm… I forget.” I pretended to be interested in what was happening at the bird feeder.

“You forgot?” Alex didn’t sound like he believed that answer but decided not to ask anything further. “Okay. Well, I’m making some for myself.”

“Sounds good.” I reached over and picked up my cup of tea, waiting for him to go inside.

When I heard the door close behind him I let out a sigh of relief.

A few minutes later Alex was back outside. “Guess what I found in the garbage when I went to throw out my eggshells?” He came up next to me holding an empty Nutrageous candy bar wrapper.

“It’s not mine.” I quickly said.

Alex started to laugh. “Are you seriously going to go with that?”

I sighed. “I thought I’d jammed it down far enough in the trash that no one would find it.”

“You actually ate a candy bar for breakfast?”

“In my defense it wasn’t a whole candy bar.” I reasoned. “There was only a small piece left and when I went into the refrigerator to get some milk for my tea I saw it and I couldn’t help myself.”

“You had a candy bar in the refrigerator? I was in there last night and I didn’t see it.”

“Of course you didn’t.” I said matter-of-factually. “I’d hidden it.”

“You hid it in the refrigerator?”

“Yup! I do it all the time.” I took the wrapper from him and put it on the table next to me. “I hide things in the freezer, too.”

Alex shook his head. “Are you serious?”

“Very.” I leaned back in my chair. “I’ve lived in a house filled with guys for years. Do you really think I’d ever be able to have a treat that I could save for later, when I wanted it, if I didn’t have some good hiding places?”

Alex shook his head. “So you had a candy bar for breakfast.”

“A small piece of a candy bar.” I reminded him as I shrugged my shoulders. “Besides, it’s my summer vacation. I deserve a treat.”

“It was breakfast!” Alex called over his shoulder as he went back in the house.

“And it was delicious!” I called back to him.

COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE

I was sitting on my porch, a container of bird seed next to my rocking chair, when my husband Steven came outside.

“Morning.” He said as he kissed the top of my head. “How’d you sleep?”

“Pretty good. How about you?” I pointed to the chair next to me. “Want to come join me?”

“I slept okay.” He said as he sat down. “What are you doing?”

“I just filled the bird feeders and I’m waiting for everyone to come out of the woods.”

Steven looked confused. “Who’s coming out of the woods?”

I pointed to the feeders. “When I was filling them I could see all the house finches jumping from branch to branch waiting for me to finish.” I pointed to the chipmunk scurrying by the fire pit. “He’s on his second trip of gathering the seeds I spilled on the ground.” I leaned back in my chair and began humming.

“That sounds familiar. What’s that song you’re humming?” He asked.

“It’s from the Wizard of Oz. ‘Come out, come out, wherever you are.’ I started to sing, then laughed. “I feel like Glinda the Good Witch trying to coax the Munchkins out of the underbrush.”

Just then a goldfinch flew out from the woods and landed on the birdbath.

Steven looked over at me. “Glinda, huh?”

I looked down at my outfit, which was a bathrobe over an oversized tee shirt and pajama bottoms. “Okay, I may not look like Glinda right now. But I think I said I FEEL like her. I never mentioned looking like her.”

We watched as a cardinal couple flew in and landed on the feeders.

“See? Everyone’s enjoying their breakfast!” I said as I smiled at Steven.

A few blue jays swooped in to join the party, squawking as they landed at the top of the feeders. “There’s enough room for everyone!” I called out to them as I looked over at Steven and began laughing.

Just then three squirrels, who were chasing each other around the oak tree, stopped to watch the chipmunk loading up his cheeks at the bottom of the feeders.

“And there you have it.” I sighed. “The squirrels have arrived and now it’s ruined for everyone.”

Steven shook his head. “Why don’t you like the squirrels?” He asked. “They have to eat, too.”

We watched as a squirrel shimmied up the pole of the feeder, chasing all the birds away while it leaned over and dumped all the seed onto the ground. The other squirrels were waiting underneath and began feasting on the pile of seeds.

“That’s why!” I said pointing to the fat little intruders. “They just chased all the birds away!”

Steven looked over at the table and saw my empty cup sitting there. “Would you like some more?” He asked pointing to my cup. “I can heat up some extra water for you when I’m heating up mine.”

“You know, maybe some more tea would be the exact thing I need right now.” I said as I got up and grabbed my container of birdseed and headed into the house. “Seeing that my magical movie moment seems to be over now.” I sighed. “I guess it’s time for me to get in the shower and get back to reality.”

SOMEBODY’S WATCHING ME

I was curled up on my couch watching my favorite show when I heard the chime of the front doorbell ring from the speaker in my hallway.

My television show was also interrupted with a video notification in the right hand corner of the screen and Alexa telling me “Someone is at your front door.” All this happened at the same time my phone began to vibrate on the cushion next to me also letting me know someone was at the front door.

“Okay, I’ve been properly notified.” I laughed as I got up from the couch, scooped up my phone, and saw that my son’s friend Tommy was at the front door. The notification on my phone also let me know that he was wearing a blue shirt and holding up a white bag. From the picture I could see the bag was from a fast food restaurant.

“Alex!” I called out to my son. “Tommy’s here and he brought snacks!”

I opened the front door. “Hey, Tommy! How are you doing?”

“I’m good.” He said as he came in.

As I shut the door behind him Alex came around the corner. “Hey, Tommy!”

I looked over at Alex. “Have you noticed the Ring doorbell has decided to give more of a description about the person at the door?”

Alex looked confused. “What?”

I held up my phone and showed him the picture of Tommy and the caption stating what color shirt he was wearing and that he was holding a white bag. “It used to just tell us if someone was at the front door. Now it tells you what they’re wearing and holding!”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Must be an upgrade in the program.”

I looked back at my phone. “Well, I didn’t order an upgrade. Did you?”

Alex just shook his head as he took the bag from Tommy and headed for the kitchen. “I don’t think you had to order it.” He said over his shoulder. “It’s probably just an AI upgrade.”

“Well, I don’t like it.” I grumbled as I followed both of them into the kitchen. “I feel like it’s too nosy.” I scrolled through app until I got to the picture of him coming home from work an hour earlier. “Look at this one!” I said as I held it up for him to see. “There’s someone coming up the steps holding a cooler!” I looked over at Tommy and showed him. “It’s telling me he’s holding a cooler!” I cried. “That’s creepy!”

Tommy shrugged his shoulders. “He is holding a cooler.” He reminded me.

“Well, it’s just too personal!” I looked at both of them. “Pretty soon I’m going to be walking out the front door for work an the ring camera is going to call out and say, ‘Is that what you’re wearing to work today?’” I shook my head in disgust. “Then it’s going to download what it thinks are some ‘appropriate’ outfits for me to wear and send me a link to Amazon to order them!”

Alex laughed as he grabbed some napkins. “Don’t you think you’re exaggerating just a little bit?”

“No.” I said sadly as I looked back at my phone. “I really don’t.” I sighed as I put my phone on the counter top and went back to the couch to finish my show.