My Water Bottle

When I was a little boy in Colorado, my grandpa and grandma would take my brother and I for day trips in a state park. Riding in their dark blue sedan, I’d stare at my grandpa’s water bottle that he always carried. It looked more like a jar than a bottle, and for this, I figured it was both impractical and extremely adult. It’s strange, but for all the happy mornings we spent in the creeks and forests and mountains of that park, I remember my grandpa’s water bottle.

In high school, after my grandpa had passed away, I did a very drastic thing and accepted a position working and living in the woods all summer as a camp counselor at Mar Lu Ridge. My new boss informed me that hydration was extremely important, and that each camper and counselor had to have a water bottle, which we filled at the camp’s pumps. At training, everyone had a Nalgene water-jar-bottle, including me. I had proudly selected one with my mom at Target the week before. It had a bright blue-ish turqoise cap and a red-ish pink body.

Since then, I’ve had about three more identical Nalgenes, save for the “Mar Lu Ridge” logo on the side of it. I’m a bit clumsy and tend to forget it places, but somehow, they’ve always found me. Once, I wasn’t allowed to bring one into a football game, so I hid it in a bush outside the stadium. It waited patiently for me there. When I left one in Los Angeles, I felt extreme sadness, but my brother was a counselor at Mar Lu Ridge by then, and purchased me a new one from the camp store.

I like to be hydrated constantly. Because of this, I rarely go anywhere without my water bottle. When I’ve lost it, I’m sad. When I find it, I’m very happy. My friends know me by it’s red and blue appearance and the logo on the side. This year, I made the very big decision to slap a Temple T sticker on it’s outside. I’ve had many people tap my shoulders while I was walking across campus, then tell me that they knew it was me from my water bottle.

All through this, I think about my grandpa and those days in the park. There’s absolutely no guilt factor for me to have this water bottle, because it completely improves my health and happiness. Nalgene’s motto is “Your Bottle For Life.” Even if I haven’t had the same bottle for my whole life, I truly feel that my Nalgene is an object that serves as an icon for my experiences.