not in hot water

Yesterday, Irwin and Chris, the owners of my favorite neighborhood restaurant Out to Lunch,* told me they had been having trouble with their electric showerhead water heater. Without hot water, showers on our recent cool mornings have been -- well, bracing.

I empathize. When I bought my house, one of my favorite features was the solar water heater.

It made sense. We have plenty of sunshine here, and it would be one less draw on my propane tank.

All was well during the first few months in the autumn. The water heater produced as almost-endless supply of hot water. Not that it mattered. Up until December, the mornings were warm enough that I had the shower turned to Bernie left -- nothing but cold water. On our warm mornings here, hot water is about as welcome as an ex-girlfriend at your wedding.

That changed during the middle of December when our mornings cooled following a couple of overcast days. A burst of warm water would have been welcome.

I turned the shower to Cruz right -- and waited. And waited. And waited.

A week prior I could have plucked a chicken under the scalding water from the showerhead. Not that morning. No matter how long I waited, the water was no more than tepid -- and was getting cooler.

That was when I discovered the inherent irony of solar water heaters. Without sunshine in the winter, I may as well move in with Irwin and Chris. There would be no more hot water until the sun dared show its face. No matter how patient I was.

Before you shed too many tears for my dire plight, let me define what passes for a cool morning here. In the winter our early-hour temperatures hover in the low 70s -- or, on the odd day, in the upper 60s. What people in my European homeland of Scotland call summer.

We do not have mornings where bird baths freeze as they occasionally do in the Mexican highlands. On our coldest days, tropical fish could survive in our bird baths.

But all of us become accustomed to a certain temperature range. On our cool mornings, Omar bundles up in his leather jacket and gloves as if he were an Iditarod participant rather than merely riding his mororcycle to work. None of my dad-persuasive power can convince him that these cool mornings build character.

One of the joys of weather patterns is that the cool mornings will soon morph into warm mornings -- and it will be too warm to shower in anything other than well-temperature water.

Of course, I will then write an essay pointing out that a solar-powered water has has little utility in the summer because no one in the house will need hot water.

But it will give Irwin, Chris, and me something to talk about around the cracker barrel.


* -- Out to Lunch is located in Barra de Navidad on Nueva España across the street from the outdoor "indoor" soccer field. This week I have enjoyed bean and ham soup, beef stroganoff, a pulled-pork sandwich, and a well-constructed lasagna that was by far the best lasagna I have tasted in these parts.