If one must, one must in style.
If a person takes a dump in their back yard and everyone pretends not to notice, does it still make a stink?
Ah yes, the age old question.
We now know the answer to this and many other things we never thought about before. Mercifully our water and sewerage is back on (although we’re still using both sparingly and boiling our drinking water). But I did promise the obligatory photograph of our back yard ablution block so here you go.
Emergencies tend to do different things to different people. It can bring out the good and the bad. And no, that is not setting you up for some lame gag about cathartic motions. Although I am about to show you a picture of a stool…
In the case of Uncle Puff, it brought out the pragmatic, DIY legend in him. Admittedly it usually doesn’t take much under normal circumstances.
The question of a lack of facilities with a houseful of people was rapidly becoming an issue. We had immediately started collecting rain water (just the excuse I needed to rip out the downpipe and set up a rain butt – should’ve done it years ago) with which we could flush the toilet once we got the all clear to do so but who knew when that was going to be? We couldn’t keep filling it up. Ahem.
Enter the Puff. Why just dig a hole in the ground when you can create the Luxury Latrine. First we identified the most private spot on the banked bit of land behind our house. We considered the relative difficulties of squatting on a slope and looked around for something to sling our nether regions over (not to put too fine a point on it) when Uncle Puff had the first of his brainwaves. All we needed was an old wooden chair that we could cut a hole in the seat. It just so happened that we did have an old chair with a broken back and a solid wooden seat in the cellar (aka The Underworld). A quick visit to our neighbour Merv (latterly dubbed The Mervinator by the neighbouring kids for his efforts during and after the earthquake) to borrow a jigsaw and Puff’s eyes were aglow with the vision of a back yard latrine of legend.
The throne was completed in no time and the final piece of the puzzle was completed with a stout harakeke branch and an old shower curtain for privacy. It was only fitting that Puff performed the opening ceremony.
And now, the stool:
I'm going outside, I may be some time. Pass the newspaper.
Although the ‘loo with a view’ has now been retired, the stool remains as our own personal monument to survival. And I’m still collecting rain water.
Tyranny of Convenience 