Hot Showers.
Holy cow, aren’t hot showers THE BOMB???? 
I mean seriously. There are few things as deliciously indulgent as a hot shower. And a fairly large percentage of us take one every day.
Not me… but I live in California and have to conserve water.
So let’s just start there — water. Water!!!!
Clean running water, and plenty of it. Not only running water available at the flick of a switch, but hot running water.
Not everybody has that.
When I was in my early 20’s I lived in a small rural town in Alaska. To get hot water we had to build a fire underneath a 55 gallon drum, then wait for the water to heat up. When it was finally warm, I’d put a 5 gallon plastic bucket under the spigot and wait for it to fill. Then I’d carry it over to the wooden shower structure, climb some steps, and lift the heavy bucket over my head to balance it on a platform. Then and only then would I walk around to the front of the shower and climb on in.
It would have been unwise to use all 5 gallons at once, because running out of water mid-shower was a total ordeal. Fortunately the bucket was fixed with a spigot like the kind you’d use to fill your cup at a picnic, so you could turn the shower on and off as needed. But the lever stuck sometimes and was a little hard to work — especially with soapy hands. And since the shower was outside, the bucket of water could cool quickly. So there was definitely a showering technique to master.
The trick was to give yourself a quick rinse, soap up as quickly as possible, and then douse yourself under the thin stream, hoping you didn’t run out of water before you rinsed off all the soap residue.
Given the effort involved, I’d say showers happened about once a week.
This was by choice, mind you — and I loved every minute of it. But lots of people live in similar circumstances who really would rather have hot running water available at the touch of a button.
Think about how many other things this makes possible. I can take a nice warm shower in the space of a few minutes and get on with whatever work or play or errands adventures I have planned for the day. When I was in Alaska, the whole process took an hour at least, and often longer.
That not only affects health and hygiene — it also affects how much time you have left over to work and play. Over a lifetime, just the effort it takes to get a shower going could really impact one’s earning potential, creative self-expression, or enjoyment of life.
So, showers.
Lucky.
Yeah.
What about you? Have you got any fabulous shower stories to share? What do you appreciate most about your showers?
Feeling grateful for all that clean, hot, running water you’ve got access to? Consider making a donation to Charity: Water so other people can have what you do.
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