We live, if not exactly in the middle of nowhere, then certainly at a distance from a major center. We have a very small grocery, a pharmacy, a hardware store within ten minutes, and a larger one of each within about 25 minutes. But if we need anything outside the basics, we have a minimum of 45 minutes drive, and more than an hour to my mother’s house. So if we need to do a supply run, it costs us a good chunk of a day.

We have no bathing facilities. It is too cold to bathe outdoors, and the shower stall in the bus has 2 major problems. 1) the basin leaks out all over the floor and 2) the drain is through an electric pump. We have no electricity, and thus cannot drain it. We discovered both of these issues the hard way. When we wish to bathe or do a load of laundry, we go to a friend’s or to mom’s. This costs us an entire day, sometimes more.

However, one must have supplies, and if one does not wish to look and smell like a medieval peasant, one must bathe occssionally. So how do you choose between a day of building and the ability to get groceries or clean oneself? We can go on a rainy day, or one that is too windy for safety. A snowy day, though, is a day unsafe for traveling.

We manage to carve out a day about once a week, although it is always weighed carefully in the balance. Showers have become a precious thing indeed. When we are no longer racing hard against winter, when we have the luxury of saying “well, we have nothing else to do today, lets go shower”, that will be a lovely day indeed.