Who has a hydration pack? You know what I’m talking about? One of those hiking backpacks that has a nifty hose so you can drink without stopping?
On a side note, did you know the pouch to fill with water is called a bladder?
Um, Ew.
Besides that, I love my hydration pack. It has seen me through many a hike. I fill the thing with ice and water and it stays cold for an average long hike on an average warm day. Cold water on a hike makes me feel like I could go forever! There just aren’t enough adjectives to describe how amazing my pack is.
But, there’s this one thing-
If it’s been awhile since I took a drink, that first sip of water is the worst! It’s the nasty water that’s been stopped up in the hose getting all warm and… and… nasty!
That’s right.
So, generally, what I do take a long drink and spit it out so I can get the cold water in the next swig.
Attractive I know.
Here’s where I’m going with this. My family was hiking on a super hot day in July. So hot that the bladder (ew) couldn’t keep the water cold anymore and it was all nasty.
Spirits were low. The troops were getting restless. Everyone wanted to be home where the ice cream is, but we had a good 45 minutes before we’d get there. So, here’s what I did.
I took a big old mouthful of nasty water and I spit it at my daughter.
Yes I did.
It took her a few minutes to realize what I’d done, her face was priceless, then she did it back. Then she spit nasty water on her brother. And around and around and around we went.
The rest of the hike flew by and everyone was laughing by the time we got home.
That nasty water saved us that day!
Now, here’s the point.
There are nasty parts of everything. We can be sad about it, or we can make it fun.
That’s it!
