There are mysteries in life both big (what happened to the Roanoke settlement?) and small (what happened to my sock in last week’s laundry?).
Some of them have answers and some do not, and possibly never will.
This is the story of a small personal mystery which will almost certainly go unanswered.
Saturday morning, I woke up around 4, got up, did some stuff on the computer, then decided to lie down again.
I didn’t anticipate going to sleep, but wanted to get some rest. I did check and make sure my clock radio was set for 7.
At 6, as I was resting quietly, a ringing noise permeated my bedroom.
First though: It’s not the smoke alarm.
Second thought: It’s coming from the corner of my bedroom, not my cellphone (which was in another room) and not the clock radio.
After the ringing continued for more than 30 seconds, I decided to figure out where it was coming from. I checked my cellphone – not there.
I walked to the corner of my bedroom closest to the window and determined the noise was coming from there, but there was no obvious source.
So I threw some clothes on, made sure I had my keys, and went outside.
My bedroom window is right next to the main entrance of the apartment building. In the dirt, right under my window, were two beer cans, which appeared to be unopened.
I thought for a second they were some sort of novelty device, and the ringing was coming from them.
Then I took another look, and saw a cellphone propped up against the wall behind them.
At this point, the ringing noise stopped, so I decided it had been someone’s alarm on the phone, set for 6 a.m.
I left everything the way it was, since I didn’t know if the phone owner was an apartment tenant or not.
When I came back later that morning, the phone and the beer cans were gone.
I don’t expect to ever find out what happened last Friday outside my window, but it was kind of interesting.
