Life without (running) water

We started using the wood stove this week. And this morning a white layer of snow covered the landscape when I looked out the window. Rumor is that heavy snow is coming to Fairbanks tonight. It is officially he beginning of winter in Alaska. Last time I was here in October was in 2008 when Obama was elected president. This fall he is fighting to keep his throne for another four years. I was (un)lucky enough to catch the first election debate last week and it was just silly. It seemed like it didn’t really matter what Obama and Romney were saying but rather their confidence, charm and of course their hair – and Obama is loosing that competition. Even though Romney doesn’t even have a tax plan, he has plenty of wavy hair, which seems to win over voters. My only comfort is that at least Alaska is not in the spotlight as four years ago when Sarah Palin somehow managed to become the vice president candidate for the Republicans.

Otherwise I thought I should write a bit about water tonight. As some of you might know I live in a house without running water. I haul water in big jugs for drinking, cooking, dishes etc. I take showers at the University or the Laundromat and our toilet is outside in what is here called the outhouse (which has a somewhat different meaning in Danish, not to be confused), a small woodshed with a hole underneath. Very primal some might think, but not really. Living without running water is easier than you think. You use less of it and appreciate warm showers in a whole new way. There is a reason why a lot of people live without running water in Fairbanks. When it is 40 below water pipes often freeze and make running water a pain in the ass. The air up here is also so dry that if I took showers every day I would completely dry out. A culture of “Dry cabins” has emerged in Fairbanks and people take pride in their blue water jugs, stashes of dishes, and fashion style of dreadlocks and hats. And no, this is not some hippie thing – many graduate students as UAF live in dry cabins as well as professors and families with young children.