Weekly Update: 1.20.24
I write this update perched on my bunkbed, wrapped in fluffy blanket, my Jack Russell Dolly snuggled on my lap. I'm enjoying our comfy tent despite the frigid air outside. We had several nights of near record low temperatures this week, and we survived. I admit -- I had lingering doubts I tried to ignore as the cold weather approached. And when we woke up Sunday morning to our tent thermometer reading 31 degrees, I wondered for a moment if our adventure was going to fail. Having to go get a hotel somewhere would feel like defeat, like we couldn't really do this. But -- praise God -- we found a way, and I am so proud of us for persevering.
We had already discussed bringing our jobsite propane heater into the tent if the woodstove couldn't keep up. So, Sunday morning, Levi and Dad figured out how to run a propane hose inside, leaving the tank safely outside. Our Mr. Heater Big Buddy did the trick -- it felt like a small miracle, as the temps started climbing immediately. We have maintained daily inside temps in the 60s ever since, no matter how cold it has gotten outside. At night, we just use our woodstove, as we are always very warm under our down duvets.
It wasn't just the temps we survived. Because it was below freezing outside, we were not able to have any running water for about a week. We couldn't use our water heater, so we heated kettles to wash dishes. For the first few days, we had cold running water in our office, which helped immensely (small dishes could be washed in the hand washing sink there). We made quite the ice sculpture, as the sink is usually only rarely used and it drains onto the ground. Sadly, on Sunday afternoon, one of us forgot to leave the water dripping after washing some dishes, and by Sunday evening the plumbing was frozen. We hoped it would thaw out on our warmer days this week, but as of today, it still isn't working.
No hot water also meant no hot shower-- which for people used to daily showering, was no small difficulty. I honestly wondered if some of my family members could handle it. My mom especially is very hygiene conscious, often taking two showers a day in the summer. But even she bravely submitted to this week's circumstance without complaint. Thank goodness for homemade wet wipes and hair kerchiefs! I have never in my life gone so long without bathing, and before now, I didn't know that I was really capable of it. But it is surprising how clean you stay when it is so cold. We couldn't do anything much outside the tent, and working in the bunkhouse was out of the question (especially once our heater was in the tent). So, we meticulously kept ourselves as clean as we could.
The experience made us all think about generations gone by, how my grandma only washed her hair once a week and would at times go days between showering if she didn't feel dirty. We discussed the real difficulty of heating enough water on the woodstove for so many people to bathe in -- something we had to do when I was growing up in north Idaho at times, as yearly winter power outages could last weeks. Back then, at least we had a bathtub we could get into and pour water over ourselves. Here, we lack the space and privacy to make such bathing very feasible -- though if we had gone much longer than a week, we would have found a way. Thank God (and I mean that honestly), we finally had water for a couple hours on Wednesday and a few hours on Thursday. We got to shower both days as well as wash almost all of our laundry before the temps turned cold again on Friday.
We spent our time this week mainly keeping up with the necessities -- cooking, washing dishes (which takes so much longer now), keeping the fire going, and trying to keep the tent semi-tidy with so many kept inside. Our meals have been easy slow cooker fare most days, usually meat and rice or vegetables. With nothing better to do than cook, most nights we had a crockpot dessert as well. It turns out that slow cookers can make pretty decent lava cakes and cobblers. With the weather and sickness we had going on last week, we ordered most of our groceries, which meant we ate a lot of cheap, stupid food like box mac and cheese and frozen burritos from the local grocery store. It was a blessing in the cold to cook easy things -- and let's be honest, enjoy some comfort food. But enough is enough, and we are all feeling very ready to get back to our healthier ways starting next week.
It has been too cold for our dogs to be out much, and our days have been punctuated by arctic walks around the camp with them. Poor Dagger started the week with a paw infection from stepping on a couple thorns outside, and he has been slowly recuperating. It is probably a hidden blessing that he has had to rest so much. Dolly is the only one who seems to prefer the tent. She hates the weather with a passion, and despite the fact that the spoiled thing has a sweater, she hides almost every time I have to take her out to do her business.
I'm proud of us for getting through the last week. It was very much a stretching experience, and I am glad to be done with it. There is so much that I will never again take for granted. Just when I think things can't get harder out here, they seem to. But with each challenge, we are finding our way forward -- and when we can't go forward, we are at least finding a way to stand our ground. This was a week of standing, holding out against the weather. And we managed it, with God's help. Thankfully, next week looks better. Starting on Monday, while we will have rain to contend with, we will at least be able to keep ourselves and our laundry washed as needed. Hopefully we will be able to get back on our feet and begin to move forward again. Until then, I'm thankful to be where I am right now. There are worse things than being holed up in a cozy tent.
