Cool, Clear Water

One of my students emptied a packet of sweetener into his bottled water during our first-period class yesterday and prompted students around him to ask why. He didn’t have any explanation other than it tasted good. A little odd, maybe, but many of us use additives in our morning drinks, don’t we? My husband and I put what we fondly call “coffee crack” into our coffee every morning. My favorite is Southern Butter Pecan.

I have switched my drink habits up over the years. Many years ago, I was a soda drinker. Then I became addicted to sweet tea. I eventually stopped drinking all caffeinated and sugared drink for several years. Water became my drink of choice until visiting Venezuela ten years ago. I was offered a small cup of espresso with sweetened steamed milk one morning and was absolutely amazed at the taste. After eleven days of cafe’, I bought an espresso pot and the largest bag of Venezuelan cafe’ I could buy before boarding the plane home.

During those soda and sweet tea years, before Jim was my husband, he rented a small house in the country in Western Kentucky. The house was for sale, but the realtor/owner was willing to rent it. I was visiting one weekend and the realtor brought a couple in to take a look at the house. Jim and I had kidded we should do something to dissuade the potential buyers, like put mouse traps all over the house where they could be seen. Of course, we didn’t do it.

The couple seemed nice enough and appeared to be interested in the house. They began at the front door and went through the living room, bathroom, two bedrooms, and ended up in the kitchen. Then the realtor wanted them to taste the cold, clear cistern water. She asked for a glass, turned on the faucet, and we heard the pump bring water from the cistern to the tap.

“Look at that clarity,” the realtor marveled at the crystal clear liquid in the translucent glass.

“Uh huh,” said the other woman as she tasted the water. “You want some?” Her husband reluctantly put the glass to his lips and sipped. Then he sniffed at the glass. The realtor seemed tickled they both tasted it.

We were thanked for allowing them to disrupt our Saturday and they looked around the yard and in the outbuilding before leaving. We resumed our Saturday and took a motorcycle ride.

Jim went to the cistern and checked it the next day. It had been a dry summer and the rain collected by the gutters wasn’t sufficient. Since the water level was getting low, more needed to be hauled. Jim nonchalantly called me around the house to peer into the reservoir of water. I gagged and thought I would vomit. He had no sympathy. His laughing equaled my drama. Apparently, the gutters had collected more than their share of water or Jim had recently left the concrete top askew because a mouse had decided to take a swim. He fished out the cadaver as I swore at the mouse, the cistern, and Jim. I swore again, saying I would never, ever drink or shower in that water again.

The potential buyers did not put a bid on the house and thank goodness Jim found another place with city water soon after that. No amount of packets of sweetener nor coffee crack could make me drink that water again.

Photo by Kobu Agency on Unsplash