Since I signed up for this “postaday2011” thing through WordPress, they have helped spur ideas to keep the posting alive. Mostly, I’ve dismissed those ideas as I’ve had something to share, worthy or not, most of the time.

Not that I needed today’s “idea”, but it did bring back a teenager memory of mine. Here’s the question asked: How long do you think you can go without a shower?

I’m proud to say my answer these days is different than it used to be. The reason goes something like this:

Summer vacations to Colorado were taken for years, but in particular those ever-so-defining body-awareness teenager years between sophomore year and senior year of high school. It was almost a contest amongst the OFBs and OFCs to see who could out-stink the other during those times of personal hygiene lapses. All us guy-cousins liked the idea that we could say we get a shower every Saturday night, whether needed (wanted) or not. You see camping in the Routt National Forest, we as a family would come out of our mountain RV retreat and smell-descend on Steamboat Springs on Saturday. Besides the fuel, groceries, and laundry mat stops that day, Mom and Aunt Bert and Aunt Marilyn would insist we stop at the municipal swimming pool. They made us shower before swimming, then go swimming, and finally shower again before heading back up the mountain for the second week. I think we were too clean. We must have really stunk!

Then the OFBs and OFCs started backpacking in the wilderness. The parents would run into town while we were sleeping on the continental divide for 7-10 days some times. So if you don’t count the occasional skinny dip in a mountain stream, or a plunge in snow melt with only our skivvies covering our shiverness (for OFC’s Traci Ann’s benefit only), or the slip off a log or rock that wetted our whistle more often than any of us will admit today…we stank up the mountain side for about two weeks. Never did we have a face-to-face bear encounter. Hmmm. Although OFC Chuck’s backpack was dragged away from camp one early morning – I’m thinking now it was because of the smell permeating from the pup tents and not so much the can of Vienna Sausages he left in his pack side pocket.

Yeah I know, I didn’t answer the question entirely. But let me say this, it is remarkable how much better I feel after a hot shower, 30 years ago or just this morning, whether I admit to that or not.

What say you guys on the stink scale?