A Tall Order For A Drink Of Water

BACK TO BASICS | by KAT SPELLMAN

I BOUGHT ONE OF THOSE GREAT limonatta bottles (with the attached plastic cork and metal cage/hinge) at Trader Joe’s a while back — so classic Euro-looking and fun. Once the bubbly beverage was gone, I washed the bottle and set it aside.

Fast-forward to some neighbor kids swinging by to play in the yard on a hot afternoon. No lemonade or Izze to be had in the house — nothing “fun”.  So, quick, I pop some chilled water into that cute bottle (pouring it through a frosting tip as I can’t find a funnel), pop the stopper back on top, put out some tiny juice-jar-like glasses (the ones us adults use for wine so our kids’ footballs or the Labrador’s tail doesn’t knock ‘em over) and set them on a tray with paper cocktail napkins and pretty slices of apples.

Me?  Walk outside with it, all nonchalant-like, and pop it on the porch.

The kids? Four boys and girls, ages 3 to 10, in an hour (bladders busting, no doubt) drink four bottles of that plain chilled water. They play, come back, sit in the shade of our dogwood tree, and pour more for themselves and one another. The ritual and style clearly make it special and they’re all giddy with excitement.

And me? I just pretend not to notice, as I keep popping back into the kitchen to fill up that same recycled bottle with plain old chilled water from our Britta pitcher. Shhhh.