I have a few tips for you to keep in mind the next time you find yourself in group sleeping quarters. On the Habitat for Humanity trip, our group stayed at the volunteer center. The facility was only about 15 years old, but it was constructed to meet basic needs. On the main floor were men’s and women’s dormitories divided by a large room that served alternately as a dining hall and basketball court. The women’s dormitory had two rows of about ten bunk beds on each side of the room. My shower had vise grips for a cold water knob.

Bunk selection depends on several of your personal needs. If you can’t sleep with the early morning light, you need to select a bunk away from the exterior windows. That doesn’t always make a big difference if someone in the bunk feels the need to enforce reveille by flipping on the lights and calling us to attention. If you are a light sleeper, you may also want to choose a bunk on the opposite side as the bathrooms. Otherwise you are plagued by foot traffic. The night time pee calls involve either flashlights or stubbed toes, so you have to weigh the limits of your bladder against the limits of your patience

Top or bottom bunk mostly depends on your age. Fortunately, our group was predominantly men, so there was plenty of room on the women’s side. Anyone who wanted a bottom bunk could have one. If you have someone bunking above you, hopefully it is someone with whom you have a respectful relationship. Since the upper bunks often house the teens and tweens, you might find muddy footprints and wet towels on your bed.

Another amusement in group sleeping is the organic nocturnal music. On this trip, the snorers were not too bad. I have dormed with women who were sawing logs with a rusty chainsaw in their sleep. This trip we had sleep talkers. Sleep talkers can be really fun because they often respond to your prompting. We had two girls who carried on a conversation with each other that they didn’t recall in the morning.

Otherwise you just have to negotiate the increasing mounds of used clothing and towels that don’t find their way back to their bunk or suitcase: the younger the crowd, the deeper and wider the pile. If you have to find your way to the bathroom after lights out, you would be wise to make a mental note of the piles before you hit the sack. No one is cleaning them up until departure day.

Our trip was damp. Not only was it simply a humid time of summer, but we had torrential rains the first two days. Everything felt damp. The worst was the bedding. It is difficult to feel cozy in bed when the sheets feel like they need 20 more minutes in the dyer. Even since the rains have stopped, the air has not been dry enough to pull out the dampness.

Then there are the public parenting issues. I don’t know if it is the mother or the teacher in me, but I can only tolerate bad behavior in other people’s kids for so long before I have to step in. I always try to allow for the parent present to formulate a response. However, if enough opportunities have passed with insufficient parental reaction, I will step in. I made it all the way to the fourth day this trip before I began my personal campaign of direct honesty. Perhaps I waited too long, but I’m just getting to know these people.

The compensations for these imperfect living conditions were twofold. We are in the deeply wooded areas of West Virginia in Pendleton County. You cannot find a place to stand that does not have gorgeous scenery. The verdant mountains have clouds clinging to them like burrs. The meandering highways follow the path carved by the rushing headwaters of the Potomac River. Deer grazing by the highway make a beautiful driving hazard to monitor. There are fields of lazy cows, sheep, and goats. It can take you 45 minutes to drive 10 miles on these convoluted mountain roads, but at least you are moving and the scenery is breathtaking. At home you are stewing in traffic. The night sky is spectacular. We are so accustomed to the light pollution of life in the city or suburbs that we forget how many stars there are. I even got to see several shooting stars as I sat on the porch at night. Absolutely beautiful.

The other compensation for the rugged living conditions is the satisfaction that you are leaving the County better than you found it. The Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity organization has their work cut out for them. They are trying to address a great need for simple, decent, and affordable housing. They offer repair work for only the cost of the materials. They house up to ninety imported volunteers almost every week between February and September. The staff in the office and the supervisors in the field were overworked and overwhelmed. They must love the high they get from handing over the keys to the new homeowner. So often our good deeds are not perceived, our efforts not realized. It is great to find a way to help that is so visibly beneficial. Sometimes less is more.