Shower Power

Chilly night. I took a shower in what I should describe as a rattle-trap contraption, but which I instead wish to describe as an inspired solution to a pressing problem. My man rigged up a shower using a "solar shower" which is hung over a rafter from a short bungee cord, pointing downward to a Finding Nemo child's pool, surrounded on all sides by a blue tarp. On sunny days, we can put the solar shower outside to heat naturally. Said solar shower is a thick, sealed plastic bag, one side transparent and the other black, with place to pour in water near the top and tube with shower-like nozzle attachment near the bottom. It's actually really nifty, and REI's version is hugely better than a weird leaky version from Walmart.

But today was drizzly and cool and overcast. No sun with which to heat the solar shower. And we were getting stinky. My man spent a half hour in the basement at the microwave heating water to pour into the solar shower. Which is completely not what REI was thinking of when they put this thing on the market, but we're desperate here.

And standing on the back porch in chilly weather with a semblance of privacy afforded by various window coverings, lukewarm dribble barely rinsing the bubbles from my hair, hurrying because the bag is running low quickly and the alternative is turning on the garden hose with freezing-cold water, keeping my eyes closed because there's still soap to rinse off and I don't really want to know how close I am to the garden hose solution, I finally get clean. And the lukewarm water runs out. And I feel as though I've indulged in a luxury.