is it crazy to have an outhouse in far out suburbs?

[jmgg]

People who fantasize about having an outhouse are those who never HAD to have one. It's the same people who dream of living in the country on a gravel road with a long driveway to "get away from it all". The bloom quickly comes off the rose after the first blizzard and they're snowed in for a week.

My parents didn't have indoor plumbing OR central heat/AC until they had the opportunity to buy the farm. I was 9 or 10 then. The ink wasn't even dry on the sales papers before my dad was knocking out walls for the bathroom and digging a septic tank hole. He also dug up the whole farmyard putting in a watering system for the livestock with strategically placed hydrants.

Incidentally, we had that damn 1/4 mile driveway to clean all the time as well. Convinced me that if I EVER lived on an acreage, it would be a short driveway on a paved road.

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

Originally Posted by jmgg

People who fantasize about having an outhouse are those who never HAD to have one. It's the same people who dream of living in the country on a gravel road with a long driveway to "get away from it all". The bloom quickly comes off the rose after the first blizzard and they're snowed in for a week.

My parents didn't have indoor plumbing OR central heat/AC until they had the opportunity to buy the farm. I was 9 or 10 then. The ink wasn't even dry on the sales papers before my dad was knocking out walls for the bathroom and digging a septic tank hole. He also dug up the whole farmyard putting in a watering system for the livestock with strategically placed hydrants.

Incidentally, we had that damn 1/4 mile driveway to clean all the time as well. Convinced me that if I EVER lived on an acreage, it would be a short driveway on a paved road.

Yep - or in an area that doesn't experience all that much snow (Kansas vs. Wyoming). I always figured it was a requisite to have a blade for the tractor if you're in the country. I had an aunt and uncle who managed a hay operation on a big cattle ranch near Dillon, MT, back in the 1970's. I'm pretty sure their mailbox was something like three or four miles from the house, LOL. Not sure what their plan was for a wintertime heart or gall bladder attack - maybe a snowmobile? Or you simply accepted that you were at higher risk for dying of things that you would likely survive if you were not rural? Goes to illustrate our "expectations for safety" today vs. what the old-timers dealt with.

[jmgg]

Originally Posted by jmgg

People who fantasize about having an outhouse are those who never HAD to have one. It's the same people who dream of living in the country on a gravel road with a long driveway to "get away from it all". The bloom quickly comes off the rose after the first blizzard and they're snowed in for a week.

My parents didn't have indoor plumbing OR central heat/AC until they had the opportunity to buy the farm. I was 9 or 10 then. The ink wasn't even dry on the sales papers before my dad was knocking out walls for the bathroom and digging a septic tank hole. He also dug up the whole farmyard putting in a watering system for the livestock with strategically placed hydrants.

Incidentally, we had that damn 1/4 mile driveway to clean all the time as well. Convinced me that if I EVER lived on an acreage, it would be a short driveway on a paved road.

I forgot about the fun walk in the dead of winter through a foot of snow in the mornings just to enter this glorious building and scrape the white frost off the seat. Awww memories. And people dream of THAT? Put in the septic tank.