Doing without, growing within

Today has been quite the blitz day! Wilderheart sorted and packed the kitchen items, keeping in mind that most cooking will be done in a tiny space with a small stove. When he made lunch, he even made sure to use a recipe that would be good for on-the-road cooking. We're making this transition as thoughtfully as we can.

As a matter of fact, we have now been living without running water for over a week. Our water was turned off last Monday. In the midst of everything else, we simply forgot that our payment was due that day. The fee to turn water back on would be an additional $70. We chose to leave the water off. The first night (we got home around 9pm to find the water off), Wilderheart scooped up buckets of snow to melt on the radiators overnight. We bought some drinking water, and made plans to haul water from another source.

Thankfully, our neighbor - who has been having ups and downs right along with us - saw our water being turned off and called us to let us know that we could get water (and showers!) at their house. That has simplified things a lot, and I cannot tell you how grateful I am to have that family in our lives (we WILL be taking them with us on the road - in spirit if not in body).

What are the things we have to give up without running water? We don't flush the toilets as often. We have to take our laundry elsewhere to wash. We don't get to wash our hands as often, but we have antibacterial gel and baby wipes. I don't get to take bath on a whim (which is one of my great weaknesses in winter - I could live in the bath tub!). When Wilderheart needs to do dishes, he just hauls water back from their home hot (why is he doing dishes? because the kitchen is His Domain).

But things weren't instantly this easy for us. The moment that we discovered our water was turned off, Wilderheart became quite agitated. He paced around the house almost like he was looking for something that he'd lost. Finally, he calmed down and admitted that he was more upset that the choice was taken out of our hands (not really - we COULD have chosen to have the water turned back on, but having it turned off in the first place wasn't our choice).

After the first couple of days, we adjusted to the new lifestyle. It really hasn't been that hard. We will likely be living without running water in the RV until the weather improves and we don't have to worry about anything freezing overnight (hopefully by April!). However, we should be able to get water and indoor plumbing at the houses that Wilderheart is fixing, so that will make things easier, too.

Wildeheart just announced that dinner is ready. I'm going to go join my family for a meal, and make the next list of things to do before we can leave.