When an American family becomes separated from its toothbrushes and combs and pajamas for a few hours it considers that it has had quite an adventure.
E.B. White
When an American family
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How apropos. Due to a plumbing problem in the parking lot, the water at my apartment complex was shut off yesterday. Until 7 PM, when they covered up the holes, turned the water back on, and drove away, leaving a pump draining water from one of the holes. I called to find out what was happening and was told they’d be back at 9 this morning, still looking to stop the leak. Which means the water will be off again while they attempt to find and fix it. I was totally stressed out even though I had my Brita pitcher in the fridge and had filled my water bottle and ice cube trays.
In general, I agree with E.B. White. Unless they are extremely poor, most Americans aren’t used to doing without.
But like Ashe, my family had ‘real’ adventures, gold panning at the bottom of a canyon, hiking miles to fish at a hidden lake, and camping, though not in such remote locations.
Maybe those experiences are part of why we’re writers.
After years of resistance, artists have now made peace with the hygienic practices of the modern American family.
My family when I was growing up did not fit this generalization. Several summers when I was a child my family spent the entire vacation camping in the woods. We still had our toothbrushes, hairbrushes/combs, and pajamas. This was real boonies camping, where the closest thing to “civilzation” for miles around were a set of barely-there tire “ruts” that brought us to our campsite. These weren’t cultivated campsites with a nearby bathing facility, either, but random spots near some river in the forest where it was possible to park the truck off the “ruts” and set up a campsite in the midst of the foliage. Nearest neighbors were usually about three-quarters of a mile or more away, and were typically easiest found by following the river.
That was far more adventerous–and relaxing–than losing our luggage in an airport or train station.