Owls and Orchids

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“Tonight I’m going to shower and then just walk for about four hours and look at the moon.
Rafer Johnson

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There  is nothing quite like having a shower. Especially if, like me, you prefer a bath and either don’t have the time to enjoy one, or haven’t the energy to get it ready. I mean, a bath is an art form, candles, music, essential oils and moisturiser, warm towels and enough uninterrupted time to get yourself all wrinkled. If you can’t do that then the next best thing…. okay, the only thing to do is a nice hot shower.

The weather here has just decided to get a little chilly, making running around sans clothing not something to be undertaken lightly, especially when you’re a little unsteady on your pins. Yet, when the waters running and the warmth has steamed up the bathroom, there is a glow of anticipation closing that shower door behind you.

I have the most adorable coconut scented shower wash which leaves a heavenly aroma of, of course, coconut in the air and on your skin as you gently rub it over your body. Even being a bath lover it can be a sensual delight. Of course there is always the unexpected to be taken into account, or should I say, that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

I have an evil and demented shower….. or water supply. Take your pick, I really don’t care, the end result is the same. It’s been a trying day, the heavy-duty medication week has started to hit hard and I was looking forward to unwinding, getting really relaxed so that I could try to enjoy a couple of hours of ‘us’ time before getting back into bed and hopefully some sleep.

All went well in the beginning. The water was gushing in a beautiful hot spray into the shower and a cloud of steam was curling towards the ceiling. I was just beginning to defrost when……

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the water suddenly went icily cold. Frigid is the word I would use. Definitely frigid! I was doused with an icy blast which took my breath away. A strangled gasp issued from my mouth just as the water temperature did an about-face and boiling water gushed forth. Another strangled yelp as I fell back into the shower screen trying to avoid this scalding water.

I felt the fine spray which reached me return to a normal temperature and moved cautiously forward. I was just starting to relax when…..another frigid blast of water hit me followed immediately by a boiling torrent. This was not the plan, not at all. I let of a loud, very unladylike bellow, assuming someone had forgotten I had gone into the shower and was doing something with the water.

Despite being a modern home, (huh), if anyone elsewhere in the house uses the water when some unwary soul is in the shower, the water fluctuates. I haven’t decided if it’s the solar water system or if my suspicions of an evil gremlin in the waterworks is out to get me, is in fact true.

Before my startled husband could get to the bathroom this boiling freezing torture was repeated once more. No, he wasn’t using the water and there is no-one else in the house. How can this be happening? He too has been caught out on occasion and we are stumped to understand what is happening. All I know is my shower, far from being relaxing or warming was shot to blazes. I was uptight and almost homicidal. My head was pounding fit to take the top of my head off and I think I blistered my foot when I didn’t jump back fast enough. Worse still, there was no-one to blame for this fiasco.

If there had been any fairness in this diabolical torture, which there never is, the way I turned the taps off should have pulled the pipes out of the wall. No such luck, anyway we need to have showers. I began again, warily and had a quick shower. Cleaner but not relaxed I shivered my way through the remainder of the shower process, drying and foregoing the moisturiser since I decided I was too cold to get it to absorb anyway.

Wrapped up in a warm track suit, snuggled under a quilt I started to gather my fractured equilibrium so that I could meditate for a while. One thing is certain, I think its time to get a nice heater and return to comforting relaxing baths. It’s much safer in the long run, don’t you agree?

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“Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body.” Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. quotes

So, instead of killing myself in the shower I will achieve several good things.  I can have a music bath and a water bath. It will also be a scentual bath, a mood bath (candles) and a sensual bath thanks to the oils and moisturiser.  Ooh, I think I have a winner.  I can even share my bath if I feel so inclined and I won’t have to worry about the water temperature suddenly changing.

Shower – 0,  Susan – 10. Sounds great to me.

Happy bathing people, each to their own.

Ciao,  Susan x