241R…..the first phone number I remember.  I think I was in first grade…back in the days when I really did walk a mile to school each way, and came home for lunch.  Anyhow, that was the number.

My grandparents in Ohio had a party line….what fun. Had to remember who was who regarding the rings, and there were those who were not particularly happy with you answering their ring. Then there was always listening in, but of course, we never did that.  We kids didn’t live there full time so we didn’t know who was who…we just assumed it would be ‘juicy’ whatever that meant.

You could always talk with the operator, if necessary, and you could always get the time…it was good. Kind of like an comforting neighbor, only she existed on the phone.

Next came the 7 digit number and the dial….we were mov’in up. Everyone in town had the first 3 digits until the area got so big, it had to add a new one, and no one wanted to do that.  When areas got too big, you had to add a ‘1’ sometimes and we all thought that was really stupid….like going back to the dark ages. And, if in an area where you didn’t know the ‘rules’ you could dial up anybody and then have to start all over.

We had a main number and then phones in each room. One didn’t have to run to the kitchen or a bedroom. By golly, there was a phone right there for ya…  Not to mention the colors and styles. Yes, phones were decorative pieces that matched whatever you designed.  (what I’d give to have a phone in each room now versus having to carry something with me everywhere I go…I don’t know why that isn’t offered today….same number, just an extension….bet you’d sell billions.)

But those days of cute phones, dial phones, cordless phones, pushbutton phones, phones on pedestals, phones on the wall, on the desk, and of course, a phone in the bath, are long gone. We thought we were just ‘liv’in on the edge of technology’, and life was good, and both things were true.

Now ‘that edge’ is in the dark ages.  We have again advanced from phones the size of shoe boxes to palm sized. In fact we have gone so small, that some phones are actually getting bigger.  Of course that has to do, not with just talking, but with filming full length features during our lunch breaks.  There is a phone for everyone and every age. And we are hooked, not because it is a phone that can finally travel with us for safety and communication, but because we can be attached even when unattached. No one wants to be left alone anymore, it seems. One’s nerves get a little jangled when something or nothing happens with your phone in about 10 min.  Did someone call and you miss it? Was there a message and you missed it? Did someone respond to your blog and you missed it?  OMG We can no longer let that happen…then we would lose ‘the connection’. But that is another blog for another day isn’t it.

Today marks the end of another era in our household….the land line is gone.  We decided for $40 a month we could do without it as we each have a separate phone and a separate number.  Think how many years we have had that little guy….hanging on the wall, sitting on a bedside table, just waiting to serve. And now he is being retired.  I know, for sure, that with no towers, there is no phone…The landline still stands out….giving freedom  to many people choosing to live away from the masses. It will always be a beacon of security for those who need a way to call when their cell runs down and the charger is no where to be found.  I salute you, land line….and hope to see you in our homes again, one day, along with your newer cell family, and perhaps a little pale green extension for this room, and a pink one for that room, and a gray one for the family, and so on and so on, and so on.