Jun25

High Maintenance

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I was walking down the incline leading to the restrooms. I’d been at the front of the parking lot putting self-pay envelopses into their holder, and now I was heading down to the restrooms to check the toilet paper supply.

I saw the woman open the restroom door, look inside and squeal with disgust. Look at that! she said to her male companion.

Oh no, I thought, imagining what the woman was seeing in there to cause such revulsion.

Where do you even wash your hands? the woman asked her companion in utter disbelief.

Theres no water here, I told the couple. No water in the campgrounds on this mountain either. That’s what the drought’s done. There used to be water here, but now the well’s dry.

The woman looked at me increduously. The fellow was grinning slightly.

What did you see in the restroom? I asked the woman. Did someone do something gross?

No, she said a little sheepishly. I was just being high maintenance.

I chuckled when she called herself high maintenance. She didn’t look high maintenance–no high heels, no elaborate makeup or fingernails or hairdo, no inappropriate-for-spending-time-in-nature clothing–but standing in the doorway or a restroom that’s not really dirty and making sounds of disgust does make a person seem high maintenance in my eyes.

If you enjoyed this story, check out my book Confessions of a Work Camper: Tales from the Woods. It’s all about my two seasons as a camp host and parking lot attendant at a very popular trailhead.

I took the photos in this post.
Filed under Work Camping and tagged , , | 2 Comments

About Blaize Sun

My name is Blaize Sun. Maybe that's the name my family gave me; maybe it's not. In any case, that's the name I'm using here and now. I've been a rubber tramp for nearly a decade.I like to see places I've never seen before, and I like to visit the places I love again and again. For most of my years on the road, my primary residence was my van. For almost half of the time I was a van dweller, I was going it alone. Now I have a little travel trailer parked in a small RV park in a small desert town. I also have a minivan to travel in. When it gets too hot for me in my desert, I get in my minivan and move up in elevation to find cooler temperatures or I house sit in town in a place with air conditioning I was a work camper in a remote National Forest recreation area on a mountain for four seasons. I was a camp host and parking lot attendant for two seasons and wrote a book about my experiences called Confessions of a Work Camper: Tales from the Woods. During the last two seasons as a work camper on that mountain, I was a clerk in a campground store. I'm also a house and pet sitter, and I pick up odd jobs when I can. I'm primarily a writer, but I also create beautiful little collages; hand make hemp jewelry and warm, colorful winter hats; and use my creative and artistic skills to decorate my life and brighten the lives of others. My goal (for my writing and my life) is to be real. I don't like fake, and I don't want to share fake. I want to share my authentic thoughts and feelings. I want to give others space and permission to share their authentic selves. Sometimes I think the best way to support others is to leave them alone and allow them to be. I am more than just a rubber tramp artist. I'm fat. I'm funny. I'm flawed. I try to be kind. I'm often grouchy. I am awed by the stars in the dark desert night. I hope my writing moves people. If my writing makes someone laugh or cry or feel angry or happy or troubled or comforted, I have done my job. If my writing makes someone think and question and try a little harder, I've done my job. If my writing opens a door for someone, changes a life, I have done my job well. I hope you enjoy my blog posts, my word and pictures, the work I've done to express myself in a way others will understand. I hope you appreciate the time and energy I put into each post. I hope you will click the like button each time you like what you have read. I hope you will share posts with the people in your life. I hope you'll leave a comment and share your authentic self with me and this blog's other readers. Thank you for reading.  A writer without readers is very sad indeed.

2 Responses »

  1. Hi ! I have a question & is… if there is no water to flush the ‘ toilet ‘, how does the solid matter gets away from from the place it was ‘ deposited ‘ ?? Thanks for the info. we all can learn from one another, can’t we ? My regards. Lucy.

    Reply ↓

    • Hi Lucy! Thanks for your questions. Yes, for sure, we can all learn from each other.

      A pit toilet is basically a hole (the pit) in the concrete floor covered by a tall white plastic tube with a cover and a seat. The cover is lifted and the person sits on the seat and is sitting above a deep hole. The solid matter (and the liquid matter too) simply falls into the deep hole. If you’ve ever used an outhouse or a porta-potty, it’s the same concept. Just like a porta-potty, pit toilets are pumped out when they get full. A big truck comes all the way up the mountain and pumps all the solid and liquid waste out of the pit toilets and brings the waste…well, I don’t rightly know where they bring the waste. Probably to the same place where the waste from porta-potties goes.

      So if one wanted too, one could look into the toilet and down into the hole and see the deposits left by others. Here’s a story about little girls checking out the contents of a pit toilet: http://www.rubbertrampartist.com/2016/06/16/little-girls-in-the-restroom/

      Here’s a story about a young woman who did not know how pit toilets worked: http://www.rubbertrampartist.com/2016/08/23/how-do-they-work/. Maybe that’s more common than I thought. I will be more patient next time someone asks.

      Thanks for reading and leaving a question.

      Reply ↓

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