I wasn’t the only one who came back to California a little damaged back in July. My iPod has never fully recovered, its battery losing its power to hold a charge. For weeks, it slept in my room, unable to be revived. For the last two weeks, it has been in the care of the Apple Store in Pleasanton. This Wednesday, I got the call that I could pick it up. Imagine my chagrin when I saw that my iPod had been replaced by a new model. It is still silver. It is still a Nano. But it is not my iPod, trusty friend that followed me to Long Beach, Nashville, New York, Albuquerque, and all the airports and places in between.

There’s a lesson in that.