Lost...

As soon as Scott got home on Wednesday, he changed his clothes and headed outside. Although we've tried to keep up with the leaves this year, the recent wind storms have brought on the foliage final assault. I knew that he wasn't looking forward to the chore, but we found some solace in the fact that this would be the last leaf removal for the season.

After working until dark, I finally heard the lawnmower pull into the garage. Scott came up the stairs a few minutes later.  My dirt averse husband was covered in dust, dirt and mulched leaves. We both agreed that he needed a shower before dinner.

I spent the evening reading with Robby, working on some paper work and tidying up the house. At about 7:30 Scott came into the living room, shaking and showing me his hand. It took me a few moments to register what he was showing me, but when I did, I understood his panic. Sometime during the day, he had lost his wedding ring.

With his quickly melting into a full-fledged meltdown, I tried to remain the voice of reason in the situation. I asked questions, trying to determine the last time he knew for sure that he was wearing the ring. He knew he had it at work because he was spinning it during a faculty meeting. I purposely ignored the fact that a cherished possession was relegated to a toy and opted instead to narrow down his activities starting with the faculty meeting.

I felt fairly confident that the ring was left at work and would be easily recovered in the morning. Scott was not as convinced, and began to frantically search the driveway and yard with the aid of a small flashlight. I went through his dirty clothes to make sure that it didn't slip off during his various wardrobe changes, and was happy when I realized that the shower drain had a protective covering  which would certainly keep the ring from washing away.  After searching for nearly two hours, we decided to delay our recovery efforts until he checked at work. 

When he called yesterday morning, I could tell by the tone of his voice that his ring was still missing. I offered Robby and Rowan (the little girl whom I watch each morning before school) $20 each if they found the ring. The speed with which they jumped off the couch and ran outside reminded me of the Roadrunner cartoon from when I was a child!  

Unfortunately my two little detectives were not successful in the ring hunt. After taking Rowan to the bus stop and dropping Robby off at school, I came home and searched the yard. I remain doubtful that the ring was lost while mowing because he was wearing gloves. The only time it could have been lost outside would have been if he took off the gloves to wipe or scratch his face. Assuming that he would only have done that when he stopped, I concentrated my search on the leaf dumping piles around the perimeter of our yard.  

I spent a total of three hours walking through the yard, searching with the metal detector. I discovered that using a metal detector while wearing a prosthesis is a tinge tricky. I had to make sure that the detector was always alternating from my prosthetic step. I dug through more leaf piles than I care to acknowledge before I realized that the detector was picking up my pylon and not the ring.  

I finally suspended the outdoor search, opting to retrace his steps inside. Despite crawling on the floor with a flashlight and searching every logical location, I never found the ring. I haven't given up on finding the ring, but I am at a loss as to where else we should look.

I'm hoping that the weather holds this weekend so that we can do another search of the yard. I'll keep looking around the house, but I'm no longer in frantic mode. Too many times missing items resurface as soon as we stop searching. I'm really hoping this is one of those times!