The Little Apple Watch That Could (Part 1)

Originally posted on Facebook Sept. 3, 2020

Here’s a really long story about the little that could, thanks to William, a diver at Carrigan Farms.

A group of us went swimming at the quarry on July 25 to celebrate my birthday (Btw, the place is fantastic! So much fun and a must-do for locals and out-of-towners.) Jeannie and I knew the zipline wasn’t in the cards because you have to do a legit pull-up and ours are more like one-inch-off-the-ground body spasms. Instead, we headed to the 16-foot platform, which required a bit of courage but zero skills. We were pretty proud of ourselves after jumping (together, obvi) because it felt way higher than it looked. Yay us!

At this point, I was all pumped up with adrenaline, so I asked hubby to jump with me. He wasn’t really into it but agreed since it was my birthday. When we came up from the water after jumping, we immediately high-fived with our left hands. At that exact moment, I felt like my right hand (still underwater) was naked. That’s when the stomach flipflops kicked into high gear.

My arm shot up out of the water like a rocket, and I screamed, “MY WATCH IS GONE!!!” Then Jason screamed, “MINE TOO!!!” We bobbed around in the water for a minute, in complete shock that we BOTH just lost our watches . (This, dear reader, is what we refer to as ‘Jason Luck.’ I did the SAME JUMP just 10 minutes before with Sisterwife and all was fine. Jason Luck is 100% legit and existed long before I came into the picture. But because I married him, that bad juju is bound to rub off on me from time to time .)

I knew J was about to lose his mind , so I quickly talked him down: Yes, it sucked terribly that we lost our expensive watches (and I broke my 3-month activity streak ). But, no one was hurt and we couldn’t change what happened, so let’s not obsess over it and let it ruin our day. By the time we swam back to shore, we were cracking up over the absolute absurdity of it. I mean, OF COURSE, we both lost our watches. It’s Jason Luck. Duh.

So, I headed to the front desk to report that Mr. and Mrs. DingDong lost their Apple watches and left my contact info. (just in cases). We weren’t the only dingdongs, though. There were two other watches lost to the quarry earlier that day. Apparently, it’s a very common thing. .When we left, I said a silent goodbye to my watch, went home, and promptly ordered a replacement. (Yep. I’m that ridiculous person who obsesses over closing those f’in activity rings. It felt like I was missing an appendage #mylifeissad).

Fast-forward to last week — a month-plus after we lost our watches to the quarry gods. Elizabeth Carrigan texted to let me know an employee named William (aka diving god) found J’s watch. AND, it turned on and displayed the time!

Get this: During off hours, employees volunteer to hunt for lost treasures. They free dive 25 feet to the bottom of the quarry – 50 degrees, btw – and search for about 15 seconds before coming up for air. They can’t see anything down there, so they just feel around the rocks. Sometimes the divers come back with a tree branch or a handful of silt, but other times they score big with sunglasses Apple watches.

Jason and I had gone about our lives assuming the watches were gone forever and chalked the whole thing up to a very expensive life lesson. I mean, there’s no way his watch would still work after sitting at the bottom of a 50-degree quarry for 35 days, right? Even though Elizabeth said it turned on, we were skeptical. Last night I went to pick up the watch with zero expectations. But after giving it a little juice at home, we were stunned to see it sync right back up. Well done, Apple. You make some quality goods .

Takeaways from this experience:

1. Silicone watch bands are cool because they come in all sorts of colors and styles. What’s not so cool? Those wimpy ass pin-and-tuck closures in bodies of water.

2. Carrigan Farms is a magical place with fantastic staff (you’re the best, William and Elizabeth!) and yummy soft serve fresh fruit parfaits. (Recs for next season: Annual passes and adults-only nights.)

3. While this happy-ending story may *seem* like Jason Luck is finally turning around, the fist-sized bruise on his ass from falling and sliding down a flight of stairs while camping last weekend says otherwise.