Out Back

What's old is new again. Or so they say.

My great-aunt in France had only one toilet, and it was outside, in a shed off the kitchen. It was dark, stuffy, smelly, and often hot/cold/damp, depending on the weather. And then there were the spiders ...

If you had to pee at night, as children often do, it meant going downstairs, bumping through several overcrowded rooms, and wrestling open a sticky door and a heavy set of shutters. (The French barricade their homes at night as if the Germans might come back while they're asleep.) Usually it was easier just to piss in the bidet, which was conveniently located in the bathroom. Upstairs. By the bedrooms. That's right: the bathroom had a bidet but not a toilet.

After decades of inconvenience, my aunt eventually moved to a place with a fully equipped indoor bathroom. And then she died.

Thanks to Riley for the article.