Saturday, May 17, 2008

The essential luxury

Here is what I like about our new home: Hot water.

Oh sure, there are hardwood floors, a king size bed and the breeze-swept balcony with a view of the New Orleans skyline. My Darling Wife loves the high ceilings and fans and our Precious Daughter is enjoying her red and black room with full-length mirrors on the closet doors.

But for me, the greatest improvement in quality of life is the new bathroom.

Let me explain.

Here's how my mornings used to go: My alarm would go off. I would turn on the hot water heater. I would reset my alarm for 15 minutes. I would go back to bed. My alarm would go off again. I would get ready to shower. I would stoop slightly and step into the tub. I would remain bent because if I stood straight my head would hit the ceiling of the trailer. I would shower and shave as quickly as possible, because the trailer hot water tank only held about 6 gallons and it usually lasted about 15 minutes.

That's how it was for about 22 months in the FEMA Travel Trailer.

Here's how my morning goes now: My alarm goes off. I get ready to shower. I stand up and no stooping or bending is required. I stand under the strong spray of hot water for as long as I please. I emerge happy.

If clean water is one of the hallmarks of a civilized living, hot water is one of its essential luxuries.

Oh, I could probably wax poetic about the essential nature of water versus the sensuous pleasure of a hot shower, or even the paradoxical relationship we have with water since it was, after all, a water event that plunged us all into this long journey of misery in the first place.

But I'll let that alone for now.

I suppose at one time or another we've all been deprived of the luxury of a hot shower. Whether camping or during a power or gas outage, we probably had to deal with the inconvenience of little or no hot water for a day or two.

Well that's nothing. Try it for 22 consecutive months.

And then you'll know why my favorite part of the new house is all wet.

4 comments:

mominem said...

Water flow in our trailer is so low that two can shower without running out of hot water.

We also have our heater set to electric so it's never off, although in the winter we do turn the furnace off and scurry out to turn it on before finally getting up to shower.

I'm glad I only sleep there 2-4 nights a week.

I'm also glad that after two years FEMA finally fixed our dual fuel reefer to actually run on electricity, saving me from filling a propane tank every three weeks.

Anonymous said...

How quickly we forget the little things in life eh? That's why whenever the AC kicks on I say a quiet little "thanks" to whomever was/is responsible.

Laurie said...

Congratulations on your hot shower!!!!!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

We put an on-demand water heater in our house as a result of our trailer experiences. I can take a three hour long shower if I want, and I have.