I don't know if required is the right word, but let's say strongly encouraged. Sometimes if she doesn't answer, I don't bother with a message - it will still show up as a missed call, and that's more than good enough. One time however she was apparently in a dead zone, and it went straight to voicemail. I assumed that she would have gotten a missed call thing on her phone, but she didn't. She called me later in the day and was a bit peeved with me.

Looks like early next week the snow will be gone and the weather will be warm, so I will be back in the saddle again .