Does a bearded telecom manager sh*t in the woods?

Short answer: YES! (A short break from my chronological approach to telling about life in the north woods.)

Most everyone I speak with in the Yukon talks about living in a cabin with no running water "back in the day." Now I'm doing it.

My toilet is a newly built, enclosed, plywood single-holer about 50' from my cabin. Tin roof, open air where the roof meets the walls (ventilation - good for the nose, bad for letting bugs in.) Beige plastic seat, and a great view (see accompanying picture) if you leave the door open! And I have found that it is in range of my cordless phone, so for the first time of any home I've had, I can call from my bathroom, just like in Ritz Carlton hotels! :-)

It's nowhere near as bad as I had prepared myself for. No smell in winter (everything freezes pretty quickly) and while I wouldn't go read a chapter of a book out there, the plastic seat isn't cold. Many Yukoners have spoken warmly about the virtues of cutting a U-shaped piece of foam insulation to place on top of the seat, but last winter I never felt the need for it. With our long winter nights (3:15pm to 10:15am) I do keep a flashlight hanging by the door for winter runs (so to speak.)

I guess, working for the phone company, I potentially have a virtually unlimited source of the classic outhouse toilet paper: telephone book pages. But I'm living large in the Yukon, and springing for Canadian Superstore jumbo packs of TP! Wahoo! Let the good times roll (no pun intended!)

Over the summer there has been a little more odour, kept in check with an occassional sprinkle of lyme. The big downside is the mosquitos, and some wasps seem to like to hang out there in the summer, waiting for something interesting for dinner (me!)

On the whole, I prefer the winter. No bugs, the quiet of the snow, piney freshness (the surrounding trees and no odour) and not as cold as people of our grandparents era made it out to be, even at -40 degrees, celsius / fahrenheit (the temperature scales cross at that point.) Maybe I'll treat myself to a foam seat cover this winter!