Running Water

November 7, 2010 - 30 days of Thanks entry...


As much as I hear myself complain about the day to day insanity here, it does make me thankful for the little things. For example, I really miss having a dishwasher and never want to live without one again. But, I am SO grateful to have running water. A lot of the homes in the village do not have running water. Those people have to come to the school or go to friends’ houses to take a shower – most just use the steam house as a bath. I could never get used to that – just sweat, soap up, wipe it off, and call it good. Folks who raise, and race, dogs here have to pack water up from the river for their dogs every day. Many of the local Yupik teachers (all of the white teachers live in teacher housing with complete facilities) even bring their laundry to the school to do it while they are at work or on the weekends. If they don’t have running water, do they have an outhouse?... you might be wondering. Sorry folks, no outhouses on the tundra – permafrost keeps one from being able to dig a hole deep enough and those subzero temps make one completely impractical October through April. Honeybuckets are plentiful out here. It’s basically just a 10 gallon bucket lined with a plastic bag (maybe) and with a toilet seat rigged on top (if you have a deluxe model). Those honeybuckets are dumped into a receptacle somewhere. I’m not sure where in Kwethluk. I’m thankful that I have a good, old fashioned, flush toilet. I’m pretty sure Honeybucket is an oxymoron…

Yes, I’m thankful for running water, clean running water even. I have a washer and dryer in the house and a full bathroom. Even if the shower is way too hot and I have to brush my teeth with warm water every day, at least I have access to that water with the turn of a faucet.