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View Full Version : When Simple is Too Simple (For Me)


goldensmom
12-20-12, 10:21am
Sometimes my pride in practicing a simple lifestyle humbles me (pride goeth before a fall). The pump in our very deep water well went bad and (end of long story) we are having a new well dug. Until the job is done, we are getting drinking water from a neighbor but I am carrying water for the ‘toilet’ from the pond. Today it is cold and snowing - laterally from a strong, easterly wind. Walking to and from the pond for water in this weather is definitely something I don’t want to be a part of my simple lifestyle. Some aspects of the ‘Little House on the Prairie’ days are appealing, even romantic but this is not one of them.
cattledog
12-20-12, 10:34am
Indoor plumbing is the best. I remember touring a old mansion from the mid-1800's and they had an indoor "toilet." It was so gross- it wasn't plumbed and the whole thing was carpeted. Yuck. It's easy to romanticize the old days and easy to forget the difficult things (blizzards and no plow trucks, polio, no running water, higher child mortality rates, Scarlet fever, etc., etc.).
goldensmom
12-20-12, 11:42am
Indoor plumbing is the best. I remember touring a old mansion from the mid-1800's and they had an indoor "toilet." It was so gross- it wasn't plumbed and the whole thing was carpeted. Yuck. It's easy to romanticize the old days and easy to forget the difficult things (blizzards and no plow trucks, polio, no running water, higher child mortality rates, Scarlet fever, etc., etc.).

Agreed. I toured a castle where the 'toilet' was a hole positioned over the moat. I then understood why moats were an effective means of defense.
JaneV2.0
12-20-12, 12:27pm
Agreed. I toured a castle where the 'toilet' was a hole positioned over the moat. I then understood why moats were an effective means of defense.

http://www.kolobok.us/smiles/artists/mother_goose/MG_119.gif

Simple and primitive are not the same thing. I don't get the allure of living in bygone days anyway.
Alan
12-20-12, 12:31pm
http://www.kolobok.us/smiles/artists/mother_goose/MG_119.gif

Simple and primitive are not the same thing. I don't get the allure of living in bygone days anyway.
I don't either. From birth through the 6th grade, I lived with my family in a house without indoor plumbing, dependant on an outhouse and a manual pump in the back yard.

Of course there was that interesting point where I accidentaly burned down the outhouse and hilarious antics ensued, but I'd still rather forget the entire experience.
KayLR
12-20-12, 12:34pm
Wow, good on you, Goldensmom...a character-building time, for sure!
awakenedsoul
12-20-12, 12:45pm
goldensmom,
Brrr! I saw a local television show about the history of where I live. One of the women being interviewed said that they used to have to carry water a mile to water their crops. Our summers are in the triple digits. Wow! That really made me appreciate my hose and plumbing.
peggy
12-20-12, 2:47pm
I don't either. From birth through the 6th grade, I lived with my family in a house without indoor plumbing, dependant on an outhouse and a manual pump in the back yard.

Of course there was that interesting point where I accidentaly burned down the outhouse and hilarious antics ensued, but I'd still rather forget the entire experience.

Accidentally? Hummm....not a chance! You were smoking in the outhouse, weren't you?! Fess up! :0!
Alan
12-20-12, 3:08pm
Accidentally? Hummm....not a chance! You were smoking in the outhouse, weren't you?! Fess up! :0!
Let's just say that once you get the Sears & Roebuck Christmas Wish Book totally enflamed, it's pretty much out of your hands.
CathyA
12-20-12, 3:32pm
LOLOL!
mamalatte
12-20-12, 4:43pm
Alan - Do you mind if I ask whether the lack of amenities was by choice or necessity? DH's parents kind of did a "back to the land" thing when he was little that was pretty austere (but at least they had indoor plumbing!).
bunnys
12-20-12, 5:45pm
I think no indoor plumbing would be a lot worse than no electricity.

Funny they call it back to the land but life could really be crappy back before mod cons. Chamber pots don't sound at all romantic to me.
Alan
12-20-12, 5:46pm
Alan - Do you mind if I ask whether the lack of amenities was by choice or necessity? DH's parents kind of did a "back to the land" thing when he was little that was pretty austere (but at least they had indoor plumbing!).
It was definitely not by choice!
goldensmom
12-20-12, 5:51pm
Wow, good on you, Goldensmom...a character-building time, for sure!
That's putting a positive light on the situation. Maybe after we get water I can look back and see it that way. I surely will appreciate having a working water well.
Mrs-M
12-21-12, 8:34am
Goldensmom, Your story helps reiterate to me, the importance of certain modernities.