Saratoga Battefield -- Schuylerville, NY

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Revolutionary War is a fascinating topic that many people have studied.  When we went to the battlefield recently, one of the thoughts we had was that, within these comparitively small spaces, there were thousands of people.  Aside from the logistics of tents, water, and cooking, where did all the human waste go? Evidently the waste was plentiful within the redoubts where they were holed up as the chickens used to feed on it.

Even before the war was all-out, human waste was used as part of breaking up the court in North Carolina where it was placed on a judge's seat.  This in addition to many other horrible things that were done, but you can see why this might catch my eye.

So all this thinking about historical waste leads me to the commodes at the historic battlefield.  Any port in a storm, they say, so it's a good thing it was a beautiful clear day when we were there.  I wasn't up for this:

Maybe I should just have been grateful considering the conditions were surely not as bad as during the war, but I wasn't so sure.  It had been a loooong time since this had been emptied, and it showed.  I waited.  And I was glad I did.  Near Benedict Arnold's boot, which is a story unto itself (he is not named on the marker, and the marker is a boot to symbolize both his contributions to the battle and his later traitorous deeds) and by the British redoubt is the prize commode.

Already looking more promising, this is an all wood affair.  I'm already feeling better.

Clean, with directions and handicap bars and toilet paper, you know, on the roll where it belongs.

This door alone would have won me over.  This is the view from inside.

Then there is the ceiling.  Slanted up to the window, the ceiling is all wood.  I can tell you there was no odor at all, and a faint wood smell that was infinitely more pleasant than most composting toilets that don't use any chemicals (and even the ones that do).

Couldn't resist a close-up of the door handle.  I'm feeling like I used a luxury commode here.  I guess it goes to show that good things come to those who wait.  Except in wartime.  Not then.