The Bathtub

Lying stretched out in the bathtub with the jets in full bore and the water piping hot, sinking into the bubbling streams, is Heaven to one who grew up with the galvanized tub on Saturday night! The pink midriff where the hot water draws a line is submerged in the foam of the soap. Having the luxury of time, allows one to soak till the water cools and the finger skin goes white and wrinkled. One can lift his feet above the water line and watch his toes wiggle at his command. Slowly the thickened nails will soften in the long soak and allow the clippers to ease their way through the nails without effort. Lying in one's own water with the surrounding desquamate that you shed, plus hair, along with whatever dirt and sweat you provide, is a small price to pay for the luxury of whole body immersion and whole body jiggling. My friend John says the definition of a gentlemen is someone who gets out of the bathtub to pee. Undoubtedly true! Someone else may say, "I'm going to have a fast shower". That person is a person on the go. It's no nonsense cleansing. With showering all the dirt and desquamate immediately go down the drain along with any thing else that can be named! It's almost too pristine. I don't judge those who shower, harshly, in any fashion, but it does not have the same cache as the long and voluptuous bath. Their fingers will not be white and wrinkly, their toenails will be hard, and their muscles will not be relaxed and softened. They won't have a rubber duck to watch float alongside and they can't make big bubbles. At the end of a long bath, when you have nowhere to rush to, there is a sense of serenity as you look in the mirror at your shiny face. If this typecasts me as a voluptuary, at my stage in life, I do not care. It's a simple form of indulgence!