Shower Toads and The Blessing of Great Neighbors

John and I purchased a Jayco travel trailer when we bought our land so that we would have shelter during land improvements.  At the time, we were living a one and a half hour drive from the land and in the heat of Texas summer we wanted to be able to have some semblance of civility.  This would buy us time to do improvements slowly and build a house on the land, then we would sell our house in Round Rock.  Well, that was the plan.  It hasn't gone quite that way.  I have decided travel trailers should not be "lived" in, they should be weekend only retreats.



During our first couple of weeks with the trailer we had it wedged into the front 200 feet of the property, because that's as far as we were able to clear given that the early July temperatures were in the triple digits.  We went every weekend but still didn't spend the night because there was no electricity for A/C or water, until one weekend our neighbor Charlie offered to let us use his driveway to get to the one clearing that existed in the middle of our property and his driveway led right to it. This would give us some security and Charlie said that we could hook onto his electricity and water until we got our own.

So, taking him up on this very generous offer, we successfully backed the trailer 200 feet into the cleared opening of our property. We also successfully managed to get it trapped in a ditch, with it sticking three fourths of the way into the road.  It wouldn't go forward, it wouldn't go backward.  Ok,  it's a country road with no traffic--that is, until you wedge a trailer into it.  As Charlie went to get his tractor, my very frustrated husband tried to direct this older woman around the trailer but she declined and said she would wait (obviously enjoying the scene in front of her).  This upset my husband even more.  Yes, hi, we're your new neighbors, oh and this is our ... house. Charlie managed to get us unstuck and we were able to relocate to the middle of the property.

One of the first things my husband did was to set up the outdoor shower that is attached to our trailer.  By "set up" I mean he threw down a piece of plastic and insisted that we could shower in the dark.  I swear I could hear the raccoons laughing at the show.  It was then that I embarked on my first building project and constructed a shower stall complete with towel hooks, a shelf, a seat...and a small tree.  Every shower should have a tree.

Outdoor showers became one of my favorite things.  The toads would show up out of nowhere and hop around in the water as my shower enclosure would fill with steam when the cool nights finally came.  It seemed so natural to have them there that it didn't bother me.  It wasn't until real cold weather came along that I retreated to the small, cramped indoor shower of the trailer.

            

I'm happy to report we now have our own electric pole and water well, but it's fall again and I will miss my outdoor shower until late spring.  Goodnight toads, see you next season.

Thank you Charlie for all your generosity!!!



Next:  Poultry Housing and Raccoons...grrrrrrrr!