Trying To Walk In Beauty

The homemade shower that was built in the middle of nowhere by one of my uncles was so cool, unusual now, but cool back then. We actually had to walk about a mile, up and down hillsides just to get to the shower. It was just cold water that came from a hose which came from underneath the ground. If you were lucky enough and if the sun heated the hose long enough, you would at least get warm water for the first few seconds of your shower.

My mother would squirt some dish soap on top of our heads before we walked out of our hogan so we could wash our hairs when we got to the shower in the middle of nowhere. She would carry the bar of soap with a washcloth wrapped around it with the towels around our necks. Up and down the hills we went, towards a cold shower. It wasn’t too bad once you got used to it. If we got too hot from walking, we would sit and rest beneath one of the many trees that had the best shade to offer and one we had to walk past before getting to the shower. We sat there while our mother check out lil’ heads to make sure we didn’t have any lice in our hair. The many cold showers I took at this place is one of my fondest memories.