It’s a short trip from the penthouse to the outhouse. (Denzel)
Two outhouse rules: 1.)Hole is deeper than it appears. 2.) Turn off flashlight. (Unknown)
I recently read an interesting bit of trivia: when former president Harry Truman left for Washinton in 1935 to become a U.S. senator, he still had a (functioning) outhouse at his Missouri home. And indoor facilities weren’t installed until 1953 when he returned home as a retired President. In light of the news we hear today about our leaders, this struck me as downright refreshing.
And it took me back to my own outhouse days, both at my childhood home (I didn’t experience indoor plumbing until I was 16), and at the different camps at which I worked during high school and college. While reminiscences of outhouses aren’t exactly what we romanticize as past halcyon days of “wine and roses,” they bring back some ” interesting” memories, with which I fortunately won’t regale you.
But hey, they’re a lot more important than you might think! The Chinese even have a goddess of the outhouse — interestingly enough, she is also the goddess of divination, the ‘divination’ part likely accounted for by insights gained during all those periods of prolonged settin’ and meditating.
All of which gives me an opportunity to tell my devoted three to five readers that during this brand new season (Happy first full day of Autumn!), I am going to offer a short (but hopefully pithy, insightful, and scintillating) version of Restbesidethewearyroad every day. Since I frequently find myself saying, “now exactly why am I doing this?”, the increased frequency will perhaps give me some answers.
You may find that any associations among Presidents, Outhouses, Autumn and blogging are loose indeed, but in my mind, it all makes perfect sense. Just think about it for a moment.
And in the meantime, Autumn Blessings to you. See you tomorrow!