The Polar Bear Club

To flush our toilet we fill watering cans from the river and manually pour it into the tank. We've never thought much of it, that is until the snow began to fall. The trip to the river got a bit harder each week and last week it took Spence almost an hour to come back with his haul.

This weekend, the temperature warmed up significantly turning the three or so feet of snow into a substance that was even more difficult to navigate. Yesterday when Spence strapped on his snowshoes and told me he'd be back soon, I nodded and returned my attention to the dresser I was assembling.

A while later I heard his footsteps outside the hallway door and got up to greet him. He looked exhausted. "If... you... fall... through the ice and into the river, the key is not to panic." Then I noticed that there was a steady stream of drops of water falling off his coat. He was soaked.

"All I could think was, 'I gotta get out! I gotta get out! Don't panic! Don't panic! I'm panicking,'" he continued.

Yup, Spence fell through the ice near the bridge and went in up to his armpits, snow pants, coat, snowshoes and all. "At least my hat's not wet!" he concluded. Have to love a man who thinks positively.

He managed to get the water too. Kicker is, though, when I went to use it a couple hours later the tank was empty. I went to fill it, but found the watering cans empty too. What happened? Spence had filled the tank, but a small stick had jammed the seal open ever so slightly. All the water he worked so hard to get had trickled out.

Sure, that was bad news, but on the plus side let's all congratulate the newest member of the Polar Bear Club!

As for me, I finished assembling the Ikea furniture and after three years of living out of a huge red duffle bag on weekends, we finally unpacked our clothes. It felt amazing.

I have to say that life at TP isn't always easy, but it's definitely interesting.

Spence's water collection uniform (pre-soaking)

Our brand new assembled dressers!