Building a Shower

The sun came out and we had survived our first storm. The rain finally stopped sometime during the night. We slept a few hours and woke to find our little campsite trashed. All of our belongings were scattered all over the beach. There were a few pots floating in the ocean.

The good news is the reservoir was full and still intact and we now had plenty of water. We also don’t have that many things, so we were able to clean up in less than an hour  (though I was not looking at a watch).

Eddie began to build a sheltered area next to our tent.

The storm awakened an opposite side to my personality. Just because I wanted to leave society and be submerged in nature doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy luxury. It is true that because of my bohemian childhood, I am comfortable sleeping on the ground. I also have traveled throughout the Middle East, performing for very wealthy Arabs that exposed me to comforts that were lavish beyond imagination.  Having a taste of this decadent life left a significant impression on me that it’s essential to have a bit of indulgence in my life.

I am in the ocean almost all day long. Being in salt water and so near the beach, nothing is ever truly dry, including my hair.  The salt water dries out my skin and having a freshwater shower from standing out in the rain yesterday felt so refreshing.  It made me crave to go to a spa. Sometimes you necessity is the mother of invention and you have to get creative with the materials you have. I have plenty of water, so I decided to make a shower with warm fresh water. 

I didn’t want to interrupt what Eddie was working on, so I set out to create a spa day on my own, not realizing what I was getting myself into. He just laughed at me as I went off with pots and pans.

My first idea was to scoop the water directly from the reservoir, thinking that is would be warmed by the sun, but it was tepid. Then, I boiled some water on the stove and carried it up to the little area I made for the shower. This didn’t work because it was very hot and came out too quickly.

My next idea was great, but would require some specific equipment that might ruin some of our food supply. My plan was to poke holes in some cans, then heat water in a pot to a nice warm temperature over the fire. Then pour the water into the cans hung them from a rope suspended from a tree and the water would come out more slowly and warmly.

Just as I was about to empty all our bean, tomato and veggie cans, Eddie came by to ask what mischief I was up to. I enthusiastically shared my grand spa idea. He agreed that it would work, but said that he would help me do it once our cans were empty from eating them. My glorious shower would have to wait. ?At this point, I had to do a beauty treatment, so I deep conditioned my hair and gave myself a facial with some of avocadoes.