"F" is for flush and I'm so glad that I can



Model (made by Ordean Synstelien) of the outhouses outside the country school my dad attended as a kid. 

 My children will soon be taking off for the BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area) with a few of their friends.  I'm pretty certain everyone that is going along on this trip has had experience camping.  There will be no flush toilets, showers, or beds.  It's a little tough on people if they aren't used to roughing it a bit.  I recommend camping like that anyway.  How can people learn to appreciate the great outdoors if they're never out?  We've sort of settled in our boxes behind our desks in front of  electronic devices. It's comfy there.

 People used to spend a lot more time outdoors.  My father, like a lot of people on farms then, even had to use an outhouse as a kid --no flushing for them. Imagine that. Think of all the times people get up during the night to use the bathroom and even more so if they have the flu... 

I'm reading one of Diana Gabaldon's books, A Breath of Snow and Ashes.  She does an excellent job of bringing her readers back in time where a bath is a luxury and flushing is unheard of.  I believe in at least one of her books the people kept bedpans under their beds.  They threw the night happenings out the window in the morning.