There IS a Difference.....

......between having a dry mouth - and being thirsty.

Usually I'm sipping water almost nonstop. Like most sjoggies, I have a water bottle or some other beverage close by at all times. But today, as Goldie and I headed out to run errands, I forgot to throw my water bottle into the car, and as I worked my way through my to-do list, gradually discovered that I was......hm. Craving.......something. I wasn't hungry (for a change). I was chewing sugar free gum, so my mouth wasn't terribly sticky or dry, but......still..... With a start, I realized that this sensation was thirst.

Well, now.

This doesn't happen a lot. Usually I routinely slug down enough water that I slosh when I walk. But without my water bottle today, and perspiring as I hurried through my shopping, I became thirsty.

Actually thirsty. Hm.

It felt very strange and impossible to ignore. I stopped in the bread aisle at the grocery store and contemplated this sensation. And yes, I'm sure I looked pretty strange as I meditatively explored my mouth with my tongue. It tasted.....salty. And.......kind of metallic. And.....something that I wanted to deal with immediately.

I wheeled my cart over to the deli aisle, plucked a ginormous soda fountain cup from the stack, and filled it to the brim with diet cola. Mmmmmm.......fizzy, sweet, and very, very, wet soda.

I took a sip and swirled it around inside my mouth, savoring that first blast of carbonated ahhhhhhhhh. Bliss. How strange that I should have forgotten what thirst felt like.

Julia found happiness today - in the Safeway deli.