Determined to Leave it Behind

Dearest Rachel –

It’s the sort of thing that, had it happened to you, you would be distraught about. Daniel acknowledged that he would be distraught – and he brought along a spare on this trip. And maybe I ought to be, considering how far I’d come with it over the past year and a half or so (especially since I’d come to understand its usefulness, which would have gratified you to see it).

But it’s only been a year and a half that I’d had it, and let’s face it… it was only a mass-produced water bottle.

I’m thinking that I might have been trying to burn a few coupons at the time, and wandered into the home goods aisle at our local superstore just before heading out to catch the ship in L.A. Lars had advised me (as he still does) to stay hydrated on the trip, so I thought this might help toward that end. I hadn’t realized until I brought home that I’d gotten myself a Stanley Cup. No, not the hockey trophy that has, for whatever strange reason, been kept out of its supposed homeland for the past three decades. I’m talking about this thing:

At the time, this was essentially the Cabbage Patch Doll (or maybe the Tickle Me Elmo) for women your age. The company had released a pink one in honor of Valentine’s Day (although that might have been the year before, in 2023), and there was an absolute stampede for them, with cups going for as much as seventy-five dollars on the secondary resale market. I had mocked the craze at the time – as I always do whenever there’s a pop culture craze – and now, here I was with one of my own. What the heck was I thinking?

But a strange thing happened over time; I would ask for ice from my cabin steward, and fill the cup with it when he delivered it to me… and the following day, when I would return to my cabin after a long day in port, the cup would be waiting for me, still chock full of ice. Not only that, but the ice would have melted ever so slightly and then refrozen to form a solid chunk of ice that took that much longer to melt, while cooling off what liquid there was in the container to nearly sub-freezing temperatures.

This sold me on the concept; I’d never understood the fact that you and Daniel would carry water on your persons when it was just at room temperature. As with food, I like it either piping hot or ice cold. And this thing worked a treat for the latter (I never tested to on the latter, as I didn’t really want to have to keep running it through the dishwasher by having it carry something other than water, hot or cold), so I suddenly began to understand its appeal.

The only thing that I couldn’t deal with was the part about keeping it on my person. I’m just not used to carrying something around with me that isn’t attached (like my computer backpack, for instance – and even that I only carry with me from time to time, not on a regular basis).  At some point in time, I’m liable to set it down, and proceed to forget about it when I get up to go. I hate to have to admit how many times I’ve left it behind here at the ‘office,’ for instance.

Which is exactly what happened while we were on the trip this past couple of weeks. Normally, the bottle never left our cabin; but, if I was going to refill it with ice or water, I would go upstairs to the Windjammer (along with Daniel) and fill it there. I suppose I could have asked our cabin steward, but it’s just easier to do things on our own, and we knew where to get both water and ice (although in fairness, the refill stations all seemed to have little stickers saying not to fill bottles there.  We were never stopped when we tried).

That wasn’t a problem, of course; what was the problem was that we sat down to eat after doing so, and after our meal, we just got up and left. Daniel took his bottle, out of force of habit, but I hadn’t gotten into that habit at this point.  I didn’t know I had left it behind until the next morning, when I woke up dry as a bone.  I went to look for my Stanley cup, only to not see it in its usual place.

Even in the moment, I wasn’t terribly worried about it. I knew I’d lost it on the ship, rather than in port, so it had the possibility of turning up.  We checked with the staff at the Windjammer, and they suggested checking with Guest Services, as the host would it take any lost items down there after one meal or another. When we did so, it hadn’t turned up, but they did suggest that we could be too early for their processing routine; it might turn up in a day or two. And sure enough, a day or two later, we checked in yet again, and there it was. I joked to Daniel that it probably still had its ice in it, but it turned out to be a little bit too long; everything had melted in there.  Which was perfectly fine color but if it still had ice in there, I wouldn’t have been in the least surprised.

You’d think that after this experience I’d be a little more careful, but while we were packing up the night before disembarkation, I had it set at the foot of my night table… and as we left, I left it there. It was like I was determined to leave it behind somebody calling you if not at the Windjammer, then in my cabin itself.

Again, since it had been something I had obtained for virtually nothing, and it contained nothing of any value, I wasn’t terribly broken up about it. I only had it for the better part of a year and a half. Besides, it was a fairly common product; it should be an easy thing to replace. I could even use the coupons at the same superstore to buy its replacement.

Only… for all their claims to still carry them, they had nothing of the sort in stock.   I had to settle for a different brand, a different color, and a different style entirely.

Still, as long as it was an insulated bottle, it should be perfectly serviceable. It does the same kind of job the original did, with a more convenient handle (which I could probably hang onto my backpack strap, rather than carrying it separately.  It doesn’t even come with a nuisance straw. But it does have its drawbacks; the base, for instance, doesn’t fit into a cup holder, either in my car or the bedroom recliner.  I’m not entirely sure I’m going to like this thing, but it still keeps the water cold, and maybe that’s all I really need.

As much as I’m pleased with myself for my equanimity in the situation, I’m hoping I can keep myself satisfied with this. And to that end, honey, I’d appreciate it if you’d keep an eye on me, and wish me luck. I’m probably still going to need it.