The Three Children

Three Children

 When I was a child up here my grandmother told me I had a tree that was all mine. She said it started to grow about the same time I was born. She pointed to a small pine across the road in a group of three pines. She said, "It is the darnest thing not only did that one start when you were born, but the one next to it came up when your brother, Rob, was born and the last one came up when your brother, Ted, was born. I marveled at this as a child, but as an adult now living right across from the trees, I can't help think about her telling me this every time I see them. I am not sure why my last two siblings didn't get a tree. I guess getting five trees to grow in a row was asking a bit too much. It is a fun thing having your own tree and watching it grow. Somehow it doesn't seem to complain as much as I do about getting older.
A quick change in subject brings me to a few more fun things I didn't get in my last list of fun things. Some camps don't have water so when people get dirty they like to find ways to get clean comfortably.

Shower faucet

 One friend I have rigged up this way of having a nice warm shower. He got a big stainless steel cooking pot and drilled a hole in the bottom of it. Then he attached a water line to an on-demand 12 volt pump so he could work it off a battery system in his camp(he don't have regular electric either).

Heating the water

Switch for water

This runs to a faucet over a tub in his bathroom. The water is heated by a propane burner under the pot and when he wants a shower he switches on the switch and the pump pumps warm water through his system. He follows the wet, turn off, lather turn on, rinse turn off principles of a fast low usage shower. He says the water stays warm long after he turns the cooker off(which is outside). Not sure how consistent the temperature is between scald and freeze but he seems happy with it. Obviously this system won't work when the temperatures are below freezing outdoors since the unit he heats water with sits outside. I thought it was interesting and you all would enjoy seeing someone else's alternative shower method. Of course you can always jump in the stream if you can take the cold. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.