This brought to mind my son's experiences in Mali when he was in the Peace Corps. He told me that he took a shower with one bucket of water that had to be lugged over from the village well.
I just never thought I could do that.
Art went to visit Jon for a month and said it is possible. This is a photo of Jon's bathroom for 2 years.
And then I broke my foot. I couldn't take a normal shower standing on one foot. I had to sit in the tub, wash up with the shower off and then rinse the soap away with the shower wand. That was quite a revelation.
Now I'm continuing to take showers using much less water than before. I really don't think I could have done this in Chicago in January but in summer? Sure! Sometimes, it takes an accident to open our eyes.
I don't think I ever used more water than what fits in my helmet. I washed off. Not a shower. We all washed off and still do. Thankfully I was born and raised before showers were in home. We washed off at the sink using a pan of water heated in a teakettle on the stove. We also used lye soap mom made. I just bought a bar at the hardware store for $4.95 a bar. The lye leftovers in the soap making process kills bacteria on your body and heals wounds and cuts and makes your skin feel squeaky clean. You would love it.
ReplyDeletePick a Peck of Pixels is my photo blog with a difference -- I am hoping you are the difference. For this blog to be famous and me written about in the Wall Street Journal like I was in the seventies, will require more than a couple of dozen hits a day. If 10,000 visitors leave comments then it is instantly famous and your comments are part of history. Lets Make History.
Oi. At least Jon had toilet paper, I see.
ReplyDeleteKAY.....great post...these pics are very interesting..though Assam records world's highest rainfalls..it is so very sad that we buy water here..during winters we always buy water ...out here we are used to of using less water...infact we've rationed water(lol)
ReplyDeleteInteresting pictures! I admire Jon so much for his stint in the Peace Corps. It couldn't have been a walk in the park.
ReplyDeleteI have always turned off the water while soaping myself. It never occurred to me that some people don't. I also turn it off when I am shampooing my hair. I guess you could call me a water conserver.
We are certainly a spoiled society. It's amazing the myriad conveniences we get used having to that we don't really need.
ReplyDeleteMy son spent a stint in the Phillippines and I was amazed at how some of the people in the rural areas live over there. He could hardly stomach the waste he saw in our family when he came home.
It is hard to think about conserving water, but I guess we all should do a better job of conserving out natural resourses as possible.
ReplyDeleteI try to be more responsible about water useage and I have to thank you Kay for the post some time ago about paper towels! Now I try to use one sheet only when drying my hands! I do end up wiping my hands on my pants more often though...And what a wonderful son you raised to do a stint in the Peace Corps.
ReplyDeleteWe live very 'green' in Ireland, including conserving water and electricity, and it really is amazing how you get used to using only what you really need.
ReplyDeleteThe first two weeks in America, we shared our house with our neighbours whose house burned down some months ago; I was surprised at the amount of electricity a house could use. Lights, fans, tv, everything was always on and they didn't seem to notice. Meanwhile we turn off water while brushing our teeth, and only heat water when we're going to use it. Always-on hot water feels like extravagance to us but here it's taken for granted.
I'm so impressed by Jon. I suggested the Peace Corps to my daughter, because I think it's an amazing programme and a friend of mine spent many years as part of it; I won't tell you the reaction I got!! So I definitely won't show her the teakettle toilet paper LOL.
Thanks, Kay, I went to read Gigi's posts. Oi veh.
ReplyDeleteI never let animals in the house. The only cat I pick up is Lara, the nun friends' cat.
My step-daughter Niva got bitten by a dog two days in a row. She just got out of a few days in the hospital in Tel Aviv. She had stitches in the ankle and thigh and now needs rest at home, with crutches and wheelchair.
interesting post and pictures. It's a great idea to conserve as much water as we can, we don't realize how wasteful we are. Now I turn the water off while I'm brushing my teeth. I realized I'd let it run the whole time!
ReplyDeleteI guess we never know what we can do until we really have to. I miss my long showers, but am now at a point where it is difficult to climb in and out of the tub. I devise different ways to wash.
ReplyDeleteWow! We don't know how fortunate we are! And, yes, glad to see Jon had TP! Great post, Kay!
ReplyDeleteThe Hubby does that all the time and I do sometimes at the cabin.
ReplyDelete