There have been prolonged periods of dryness in the mountains. Yet none of the Sauvette springs have ever completely dried up. A longevity of lushness! Nonetheless, all over the grounds of the château, we have installed cloud catchers; glorified buckets that ensure our water independence. Complacency shall not breed among us.
The château grounds contain several springs; the largest having water to feed Calculus’s alfresco shower. Growing conveniently close to the spring is a huge linden tree. To which Calculus has hooked a shower head that receives the syphoned water. The tree’s dangling branches afford users of this quasi-natural shower a measure of privacy. Martha says the whole set up reminds her of some ‘ingenious Heath Robinson contraption.’
Despite having devised the shower, Calculus prefers to wash in the river. Bracing water in which to swim (exercise) and wash – all in one go!
In summer i like to use Calculus’s alfresco shower. In the winter i do not!
Approximately six months a year i am as clean as nature intended. A dry cleaned Homo sapiens. Air as solvent! In truth i am unclean. But grime insulates wonderfully against the cold. All the male Kommunards insulate themselves in this fashion. Whereas the women have a predilection for bathing, regardless of the season; using an old metal tub in which water has been heated by a wood fire. This gives off a pungent yet pleasing scent. Wood smoke, olfactory camouflage of dirtiness. All conquering as perfume. Actually it does have a competitor: the sweet pear fragrance of Orhtn’tu. That being pretty much a match for any smell in the universe!