That’s a misquote of Samuel Coleridge from The Ancient Mariner, but it’s the way I’ve always heard it, so I hope you will read on, and not slam your computer closed in disgust because I misquoted one of the greats.

I carry a Nalgene bottle with me pretty much everywhere. The two cars we have are not equipped with drink holders which will accommodate a Nalgene. I have tried stashing the bottle on the driver’s side floor to the left of my left leg, tucking it beside me between me and the door, putting it in the catch-all compartment between the seats (the top won’t close, though), putting it on the passenger side floor (of course it falls over and rolls out of reach), and just standing it up on the top of the drink holders. Nothing works. So, my beloved Nalgene bottles have started to seem like a burden, although I am very used to and quite prefer to be drinking water all day long.

This morning I took Kepler to the first of four swim lessons this week. I made a nice little video to show my many readers, but WordPress will not allow me to upload an mp4 file. Apparently, YouTube videos are no problem, but homemade videos don’t work without some serious tweaking. Please hold while I upload it to YouTube and then embed it here.

I’ve decided today that I’d like a handsfree drinking system to carry around all the time. The Nalgene bottles just get the heck in the way of everything! Any recommendations? The sad thing today is that my favorite red Nalgene slipped out of my hand at the swim school, and completely broke into two parts. Did I drop it on purpose? I don’t think so, but I do know that my immediate reaction was a feeling of relief. Always carrying around that bottle when I am also keeping track of Kepler, carrying bags of library books or groceries, carrying my phone, dealing with all the little foibles of Kepler — doesn’t want to put on his crocs if they are wet, so I carry them around and watch that he doesn’t slip, etc. Always carrying it around makes each task I do just that much harder.

I think sometimes I just move so fast that I don’t really stop to think about how I might solve the problem. But I really don’t want to carry these quart size Nalgenes around anymore. Ideally, I would have about four of them filled at home and place them at strategic points around the house so that I have one to drink without having to keep track of one. Ideally, I would have two that fit in my cup holders in the car and take those two in the car, but not into the establishments I frequent like the library. I think it’s a habit that needs adjusting.