Getting Water

by TownDawg

Getting water when you are backpacking is a necessity. It really does not matter if you like getting water. Some folks bring iodine tablets, and others being water filters, but everyone has to go get water. Somewhere in the process of talking to John, the two boy scouts decided going to get water was a better way to spend their time. As I made my way down to the spring, one boy laughed, while the other one was looking around excitedly.

"Where did it go?"

"I don’t have any idea, did you see it? Dad is going to kill us."

Did you happen to know that if you use a PUR water filter without a collection bottle that it makes a pretty good squirt gun? The two boys had managed to find this out, but unfortunately some piece that was attached to the water filter had went careening off as they pumped down on the handle.

"The little blue thing, I can’t find it."

I had gotten about halfway done with my own water collecting when George showed up to see how the boys were doing. His eyes drifted down to where the red plastic storage bag lay on the ground, muddy and wet.

"Boys? Is this the bag my water purifier goes in?"

The boys looked over at the bag, completely forgotten in the process of trying to find the lost little blue thing that had disappeared. They just nodded their heads, knowing the worst was still coming.

"Boys? Can you tell me where the blue plastic cover went? That slides over this tube?"

I do a lot of things when I meet people. Sometimes I compare folks to other friends I know someplace else. Sometimes I try to figure out what someone does or is like, when they are not here. I realized this was not the time to do any of these. George and the boys needed a little quality time, together.

Alone.

About the Author

TownDawg is a regular participant at budget-travels-tips.com and lives in West Tennessee.