We get Southern Living Magazine at our house. Other than the fact that we are in the south and currently appear to be living I am not exactly sure the reasons why we get that magazine. I think the subscription was a gift for my wife from some other family that is currently alive and calling the south home.

As luck would have it I stopped in to use the restroom and didn't bring my phone with me. Darn the luck, I was thinking I'd be reading the back of a toothpaste tube or box of Q-tips. That's we had to do to occupy ourselves during nature's call in the olden days but alas, I found a copy of Southern Living and began to read.

An article about Surviving Your First Semester of College in the South caught my attention. I know a lot of families are planning for the mass move in at LSU and U.L. in the coming days. I have to admit. I was intrigued. What could this one item be?

It wasn't a Keurig, an iPhone, a computer, or even a dust ruffle or a duvet. According to the author Katherine Owen, the one item that was a must-have was a water bottle. Not just any water bottle, a fancy, expensive, tough metal water bottle.

According to Katherine's reasoning, the need for the water bottle was more about August heat than college cool. Although I am sure you could get a fancy water bottle in the colors of your favorite school if your parents put enough money in your account.

There are many companies that make these sophisticated water bottles that keep water fresh and cold for 24 hours or more. This way you could fill up your bottle at the campus water fountains and not pay ridiculous prices for water by the bottle at your local close-to-campus convenience store.

Imagine staying hydrated and not spending all of your parent's money with one simple purchase. Thanks, Katherine, that water bottle idea is a pretty good one. It's also a reminder of how things have changed since I was a kid on campus.

We didn't drink water from a bottle, it came from a fountain, a hose, or in extreme cases by putting your mouth over the universities irrigation sprinklers. Back in the day, we got "hydrated" differently. Most of my fluid intake consisted of water mixed with barley, hops, and malt. That's probably why I was able to jam my four-year college career into ten years.

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