As one who still lives with an outhouse 365 days of the year…I actually think they are the bomb as a help to mitigating climate change. The amount of water we save!!! All that aside, our outhouse is a thing of beauty, set up as a composting system so it never gets full. I fill it with fresh flowers and lavender from the garden, pine boughs in the winter…it’s become such a peaceful and quiet space that I feel awkward having a poop in someone’s house🤣 TMI? Love your voice Kelsey, and take much delight in the privilege of reading your words.
Thank you for this Kristine! I hadn’t thought about the environmental goodness of outhouses before. Yours sounds much better smelling than the ones at The Lake!
I spent some summers in southern Austria with my aunt uncle and cousins. They lived in a five hundred year old house at the base of a mountain called Galotz. The outhouse was outside, and one had to climb down 30 something steep stairs to get to it. I was afraid of the deep hole and I didn’t like the space between the boards, that of course let in some necessary light. Squares of newspaper was our toilet paper. At night I asked for a bedpan. My mother said I was too old for such a thing but my aunt was a sweetheart and placed one under my bed. In my mind there’s no age limit to having a bedpan, even now I think that. Lol. I rarely needed it but it was a comfort. I’ll just add that bath time consisted of warming pails of water on top of a most unusual wood cook stove. The tub was a long metal basin that got pulled out into the entry hall and was filled for bathing. Since I was company, I got the first round of fresh water. Good days for a child to be part of. I loved it. Simple is good, and while I wouldn’t trade running water and a flushing toilet the experience was invaluable. Thanks for the memory refresh.
Yes to lake smells and outhouses. I swam in muskeg potholes and often wonder if climate change has dried them all up. I live closer to the ocean and appreciate that smell too. But I don’t sink and dissolve in the ocean like I do in silky lake water. And outhouses….haven’t been in one for a while but I know the smell well and still remember sharing two holers. Thank you for the memories
As one who still lives with an outhouse 365 days of the year…I actually think they are the bomb as a help to mitigating climate change. The amount of water we save!!! All that aside, our outhouse is a thing of beauty, set up as a composting system so it never gets full. I fill it with fresh flowers and lavender from the garden, pine boughs in the winter…it’s become such a peaceful and quiet space that I feel awkward having a poop in someone’s house🤣 TMI? Love your voice Kelsey, and take much delight in the privilege of reading your words.
Thank you for this Kristine! I hadn’t thought about the environmental goodness of outhouses before. Yours sounds much better smelling than the ones at The Lake!
Your poem ❤️🔥. Killer!
Aww, thanks!
Agreed. The closing line is a dagger.
I spent some summers in southern Austria with my aunt uncle and cousins. They lived in a five hundred year old house at the base of a mountain called Galotz. The outhouse was outside, and one had to climb down 30 something steep stairs to get to it. I was afraid of the deep hole and I didn’t like the space between the boards, that of course let in some necessary light. Squares of newspaper was our toilet paper. At night I asked for a bedpan. My mother said I was too old for such a thing but my aunt was a sweetheart and placed one under my bed. In my mind there’s no age limit to having a bedpan, even now I think that. Lol. I rarely needed it but it was a comfort. I’ll just add that bath time consisted of warming pails of water on top of a most unusual wood cook stove. The tub was a long metal basin that got pulled out into the entry hall and was filled for bathing. Since I was company, I got the first round of fresh water. Good days for a child to be part of. I loved it. Simple is good, and while I wouldn’t trade running water and a flushing toilet the experience was invaluable. Thanks for the memory refresh.
Thanks for this, Heide! I agree - it’s so wonderful to have the experience, even if I wouldn’t necessarily want it everyday.
I think that's why one loves camping. Great to get away...great to come home to a shower, a bed, a stove and refrigerator! win-win
Exactly!
Yes to lake smells and outhouses. I swam in muskeg potholes and often wonder if climate change has dried them all up. I live closer to the ocean and appreciate that smell too. But I don’t sink and dissolve in the ocean like I do in silky lake water. And outhouses….haven’t been in one for a while but I know the smell well and still remember sharing two holers. Thank you for the memories