The Tale of the Orange Water Bottle
Mar 14, 2010
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I don't like the water bottles with the twisty caps. They bug me. I don't know why it's such a pain for me to twist and untwist that cap all day, but it is. One year, when I was still in grad school, my mom gave me an orange plastic water bottle for Christmas. It had a pop-up cap. It was fabulous.
But there were some people who did not feel the same way about my water bottle. They teased and taunted, saying that it looked like a baby bottle. I didn't care. My water bottle and I had some good times together and no one could take that away from me.
Then one fateful day I had left my water bottle in the refrigerator to keep it cold before school, and when my roommate opened the refrigerator door, it fell out onto the kitchen floor and broke. He tried to replace it by giving me one of his old water bottles to use, but it just wasn't the same.
This isn't really about the water bottle. It's about a part of me that I have lost and can't seem to replace. A part of me that used to get me up and ready to face the day at 5:45 AM every morning. A part of me that ate cereal in the backyard with Esteban the garden gnome. That breathed in the warm morning air and felt good to be living another day. That scored free chocolate chip muffins from the coffee shop. That was excited about science and about the future.
Sometimes I miss my old life in Vegas so much I can't stand it. I miss my friends who I never get to see anymore. I miss my classes and research and field trips. I know I can never go back to the way things were, but goshdarnit, there are times when I really wish I could.
Love that pic of you! So cute!
It's always hard to let go of the fun times of the past, especially when the friends are so far away. How long have you been in AZ? Have you made those kinds of good connections there yet? It took me forever after I moved to Atlanta, but now I can't imagine leaving.
It's funny how simple things like a water bottle are so IMPORTANT.. and how they conjure up memories. :)
I also.. dislike the screw on lids.
You are from Vegas?
I totally understand exactly what you are talking about. Sometimes I miss my old life in Berkeley/San Francisco that I can barely take it. Hang in there!
I know what you mean. It's sad that things change, but change is inevitable.
I also hate losing or breaking my favourite stuff. It irks me.
Ditto here. Really, I kind of loved graduate school and would love to be in that life forever......oh well, back to reality:)