Water

Mimi, my grandmother (who lived to be 97) didn't drink water, said she didn't like the taste of it.  I never saw her drink a glass of water straight up.

Iced tea was served at every meal at her house, ours too, sweet tea with lemon, lots of ice.

Cokes were rare--mostly a treat at the movies with popcorn or a bottle from a filling station on road trips.  I always stirred Nestle's QUIK in my milk when I drank it--but I didn't care for milk all that much.

Nobody drank beer or wine.  My daddy started his day with a couple of glasses at the sink.  He and Carlene enjoyed coffee, but (thanks to some memorably yucky coffee-flavored candy I tasted as a child), I never developed a taste for coffee.

After four days of fatigue and foggy-brain, diagnosed by Will as dehydration (again), I'm drinking water, water, water.  I found some fruit-flavored electrolyte tablets at Central Market that taste good in water and have contributed to starting to feel good again.

It's hard to remember to drink water when you're in the pool--you feel fine while you're there.  But what I re-learned this week is that you not only have to hydrate after you've been in the sun for a long time; you have to pre-hydrate before you go out there.  (Will told me this and I believe it.)

Sometimes it takes a crash to remember what to so many people is obvious.  If you live in South Texas in the summertime (the heat factor last week averaged about 104), and especially if you are older, dehydration is a serious risk.  So here's to drinking water, lots more than you feel you need.