Cold Water

I am deeply grateful that I live in a day and age where hot showers are possible. Even taken for granted. Our water heater broke this weekend (hashtag firstworldproblems); the second time that has happened since moving into this place just over a year and a half ago. The first time we had to have the entire thing replaced, luckily that was not the case this time! However before the repair was completed I did end up having to take a cold hobo-style bath by crouching in 2 inches of freezing water in my tub. Sorry for the visual.

It was in this moment that I was reminded of a few other times where I had to decide whether to wash myself in ice water or go on smelling like a neanderthal. I thought I'd share these lovely experiences with you, starting with the most recent and working my way backwards: 

The most recent experience was when our water heater broke the first time. I'm pretty sure it was in the summer, because I don't remember my shower being completely unbearable. I sure didn't waste any time in there though.

On my mission in Uruguay I was in one apartment that had an electric shower head - it plugged in to a power outlet (safe, right?), and when water ran through the coils inside would heat up and warm the water as it came out. Deep in the middle of winter one day I turned on the water to activate the coils before jumping in the shower, and immediately the shower head sparked and caught on fire! I turned off the water and the switch on the wall that correlated to the outlet, unplugged the shower head, and the small fire put itself out. We contacted our landlady who said it would take a couple of days to replace. Did I mention this was our only form of heated running water in the apartment? Because it was. I tried toughing it out for a day or so, but eventually I felt so grimy that I decided I needed to shower no matter what! The water was SO cold I could barely breathe!! I would jump in just enough to get wet, and have to jump out again to lather up my hair and wash. By the end of my very short shower I was gasping, my whole body shaking, and my head aching from the temperature of the water. No bueno. After that we decided to use a bowl system with water heated on the stove or heated with another small plug-in device meant for use in a thermos for mate (the loose-leaf tea-like drink). This typically produced water that was way too hot, so we'd fill a second bowl with the cold water and try to use water from both without getting scalded.

The first experience I remember was when I went on a rock climbing camping trip with some friends in Colorado. We spent several days getting sweaty and dirty on the rocks, then sought out a way to get cleaned up. Since we were out in the middle of nowhere our only option was the river. Even though it was summertime the river was cold from the snow melt coming off the mountains. We definitely were a little short of breath while in the water, but looking back it definitely wasn't as bad as my South American experience.

I am so glad our water heater is working again. It's the little things.