***Note: I found a place in the neighborhood that has a phone signal, thus my ability to share the following, as well as the next couple days’ worth.***
Have you ever experienced that oddest of feelings where you must conclude that brushing your teeth is an unnecessary luxury, a consequential waste of precious water?
Indeed, it is an odd sensation, making that conclusion, skipping that previously necessary ritual in one’s morning. However, today, it was necessary. There is still no electricity, no running water, and minimal warmth. I am extremely grateful that I have gas lines in this house, which includes a gas stove – cooking and heat, now – and a gas heater on the bottom floor, in the main yoga room. I left all the doors upward in the house – excluding the closed-off storage rooms, of course – to the bathroom and to my top floor, and the heating system wasn’t too terrible. It’s a tad too cold for me to work voluntarily in my room this morning, so I have re-arranged my tidying a bit, and am working on finishing some reading for kitchen tidying, and then will begin the kitchen tidying after that.
At some point this morning, water did return in minimal force in the kitchen sink. It is the cold, filtered water that is working, though only just above a drip. Perhaps it would fill a gallon in about half an hour, or twenty minutes at the shortest. I am grateful for this development.
I spoke with a neighbor – went to her house and knocked on the door, hoping she would answer (she often doesn’t if she isn’t expecting company) – and she said that she still has enough water pressure for her toilet to fill and flush, and the sink water runs, but it is all very, very low. Her house, however, is actually built a bit closer to the ground than this one is, and it only one story. The bathroom here is on the second floor… well, there is one on the first floor, out on the porch, but we disconnected the pipes there, due to freezing concerns. We think there just isn’t enough pressure to get the water up to the second floor of the house. The hose spigot can still drizzle away. I haven’t checked if it would work full-out, though. It’s just cold and rainy now, so I’m even less inclined to go outside and mess with spraying water that is surrounded by ice and puddles of barely thawed ice.
I don’t so much mind the power’s being out; it’s the water that is the struggle. Like I said, I have the gas for heat, and that seems to be working quite well – not spectacularly, but sufficiently. But I really, really love to shower and to use toilets properly.
I even wanted to do a workout today, because the gym is closed due to the weather, and today is Wednesday. Though I have technically reached my stated goal of 100 combined smoothies and/or workouts by my birthday – did 26 workouts and 74 smoothies, as of Monday – I have a further goal of awesome fitness by my birthday, and that could use some more workouts. Also, I’m glad I got those smoothies in, now that I have no electricity… But do I really want to do intense workouts, when I can’t shower?
The answer to that question is a solid, “No.”
That’s why I don’t do real camping. Only glamping, because I want a bed and a shower. I’ll even outdoor glamp with enough padding, so long as there’s a toilet and shower at the ready within a short, short walk. (And I have done that.)
I went to bed just before 9pm last night, and woke once around 1am to pee – ugh – and then again just after 6am. I avoided getting up for as long as I could take it, then went and used the bathroom and started my day… without brushing my teeth, that is, because the water still was not back running. I was so miserable, however, that I forced myself to go back to sleep – a struggle, tossing sleep – until just after 9am. Funny how that used to be so easy for me, yet now 12 hours in bed feels absurdly unnecessary and also unhelpful.
When it could no longer be avoided, I accepted my fate of no running water, no electricity – which, by the way, has meant no phone signal either – and minimal heat. I came downstairs, had a quick snack, sought out the neighbor, then returned, quite cold, to cook and get to work for real. When the filtered water in the kitchen sink suddenly began working again, I was thrilled. At first, I was using it to wash my hands after the bathroom – much easier that going back and forth with the bottom system I have going on in the bathroom upstairs. But then, it hit me that I could use it to brush my teeth. Boy, was I divinely pleased, and grateful. Have you ever experienced the pure bliss that is getting to brush your teeth after what has felt like a possible eternity of unknown waiting? Golly, it is sublime.
Anyway, I have just paused to write all of this, and am now heading back to work!
Thanks for reading! 😉
Post-a-day 2021
^I almost put 2022… guess I’m growing so accustomed to the 2021, now ‘the one that isn’t automatic’ has become 2022.
hannah ananas 