The call from my dad came about 8 p.m. Thursday night.

“Did you get hurt today?” he asked anxiously.

I stopped downloading pictures from the Freedom Walk, wondering aloud whether my father is psychic or in some confounded communications loop that stretches between here and North Carolina – and somehow manages to bypass my office.

So here’s the scoop.

Yes, I did have a slight car accident Thursday afternoon. When I missed a turn onto Lake Prince Road, I pulled onto Old Myrtle Road with the intent of flipping back onto U.S. 460 and heading back in the right direction.

But somehow, between the high weeds and the lack of a shoulder on Old Myrtle, my car didn’t quite make it back on the highway. The car’s nose slid into the ditch, leaving one of my rear wheels suspended in the air. Oooops.

But I didn’t get hurt (although I thank the dozen or so passersby who stopped to see if I was injured or in need of help.) The car doesn’t have any scratches or dings that it didn’t have before the incident, though the front fender is a bit dirtier. I didn’t get ticketed and as soon as AAA hauled my car out of the ditch, I was back to work.

I had planned to keep this little incident to myself. After all, I figure why create a commotion where none exists?

Since I’d told just a handful of co-workers about it (primarily because I needed them to take some photos that I missed while waiting for a tow truck), I had to ask my father – who lives in North Carolina – how he had learned about it. Maybe I need to get to pick up some newsgathering tips from him.

Turns out, my coworker, who was filling in for me on one of those assignments, told someone I wasn’t there because of an accident. That person, at a Magnolia Ruritan Club meeting on Thursday night, apparently asked Dad whether I had gotten hurt.

No doubt feeling like an idiot, Dad said he had no clue what he was talking about. So he calls my grandmother and peppers her with questions: Did I get hurt? Was the car destroyed? Where was it towed?

No, Dad, I didn’t get hurt. The car’s not destroyed, it wasn’t towed.

I’m fine.