I can't remember who said this, but there is a quote which says 'bathe twice a day to be really clean, once a day to be passably clean, and once a week to avoid being a public nuisance!'
You can keep your showers. They are purely functional in my opinion - good when I'm hot and sweaty or good to wash the chlorine or whatever off after swimming. But a bath .... is a luxury that I can give myself three times a day if I fancy it. I can use exotic oils, epsom salts, scrubs, candles, hot, hot water topped up with my big toe, I can read, listen to podcasts or the Archers or music and it is a world no one but me has created and inhabits. Could not, would not live without it (and i use the used water for my garden - win win)
I agree. If I had to give up one, it would be the shower, which is mainly functional. I always thought that if I were ever on Desert Island Discs, my 'luxury' would be a bath with constant hot water. I like candles, too.
Thirty years ago I had a Japanese-style bath installed in my apartment. Custom made, two layers of stainless steel, insulated. (Sort of like a vacuum flask.) I can stay up to my neck for ages. Water keeps hot. Water use minimised. Blissful and efficient.
As you probably know, the Japanese are exceedingly clever with their bathroom facilities. Their toilets have warm seats, bidet washes and drying air that are said to eliminate the need for toilet paper. Some, I understand, monitor all sorts of metrics concerning the user's health.
The facility that most impressed me (I should say 'made me laugh') when I visited Japan years ago is in their public toilets which, when you sit down, make a sound like a train going through, so that no one hears your wee or poo etc. You have to wonder how they manage when faced with Western public toilets.
Oh yes. The downside of those glorious multipurpose toilets was that all the symbols on the buttons were in Japanese. So you’d press randomly and wait for a surprise. I never heard the train noise, but how brilliant and hilarious. Ever heard the saying, “Next train down the line is the goods”?
You were more adventurous than either of us were. I think some of the symbols were labelled in English in our hotel and we stuck to those. My husband said he always imagined a hand coming up from below and doing some serious damage. He also said that the male public toilets didn't have any of the noises mine did. I have a feeling one of them might have played music - it was nearly 20 years ago and my memory is not what it was.
Ann, you are a woman after my heart. I am an Epson Salts bubble bather and sit for at least an hour in as hot as I can stand it. I love to sit and simply thank the universe for all my blessings. One of them being that as an 86 year I am still physically and mentally able to get in the bathtub :)
I don't bathe as much as you do, Ann, but I am in the pool a fair amount and can vouch for the mind and body clearing qualities of water. Thanks for this piece!
Few people bathe as much as I do! It's absurd, but it suits me. Pools are good for thinking, but there is often too much going on. Pleased you liked the piece.
You are so right that there is a lot going on in pools. When I swim, there’s always this tension between the meditative aspect of it and all the other stuff happening around me!
When I swim, I am slightly away with the fairies. Last week. I clunked into someone who then told me off, although we were both slightly in the wrong. The most exciting moment was years ago, when again my mind was completely elsewhere and a lifeguard came from what seemed like nowhere and swam underneath me to rescue someone in a far lane. It was very dramatic and certainly removed any meditative state I was in. On the other hand, I was very impressed with his precision.
Thinking and creative time for me is while I iron. I hate sitting in the tub. The water never covers enough of me. I shower 2x weekly or if I have sweat up a lather in the garden. Washing daily suits me!
One of the trade-offs for my happy life on a small sailboat is not taking baths. We take showers out in the cockpit. There is no drumming water. I miss sinking into a hot bath, and do so whenever we are traveling or visiting. Perhaps I will get to go swimming this summer, if the water ever gets warm enough!
I also find water to be revitalizing, relaxing, and creatively stimulating. One weekend I was at a work retreat in a very nice hotel. One day I took 3 showers. Not because I was dirty, but because they made me feel so good. Hot, hot water. Simply delicious!
My small soothing ritual is walking the dog, which can make me a bit dirty. Emily Dickinson composed poems while out with her dog. I am often thinking of the next sentence.
So nice to read this Anne. We had a big house revamp about 12 years ago and I insisted on having a bathroom with a bath - despite the arguments that it took up too much room. I have to confess that I can count on both hands just how little that bath has been used in the last 12 years. But your piece reminds me about why I wanted it in the first place. The peace and tranquility of sinking into a hot bath just (to quote a well known drink's advertising slogan) - "just reaches the parts that others can't"! I can remind myself now, that it is not about how often I use it, but the joy with which I do - that allows it justify its space!
Ah…., take a bath a think of me, Susan. Bubbles if you can. I used to always use bubbles but acquired a skin problem in my 70s and have to avoid that pleasure now.
I can't remember who said this, but there is a quote which says 'bathe twice a day to be really clean, once a day to be passably clean, and once a week to avoid being a public nuisance!'
Sounds like the subject of a fun PhD thesis!
The mystic elements of major religions are all very interested in sacred baths. It’s telling!
You can keep your showers. They are purely functional in my opinion - good when I'm hot and sweaty or good to wash the chlorine or whatever off after swimming. But a bath .... is a luxury that I can give myself three times a day if I fancy it. I can use exotic oils, epsom salts, scrubs, candles, hot, hot water topped up with my big toe, I can read, listen to podcasts or the Archers or music and it is a world no one but me has created and inhabits. Could not, would not live without it (and i use the used water for my garden - win win)
I agree. If I had to give up one, it would be the shower, which is mainly functional. I always thought that if I were ever on Desert Island Discs, my 'luxury' would be a bath with constant hot water. I like candles, too.
Thirty years ago I had a Japanese-style bath installed in my apartment. Custom made, two layers of stainless steel, insulated. (Sort of like a vacuum flask.) I can stay up to my neck for ages. Water keeps hot. Water use minimised. Blissful and efficient.
Sounds wonderful.
As you probably know, the Japanese are exceedingly clever with their bathroom facilities. Their toilets have warm seats, bidet washes and drying air that are said to eliminate the need for toilet paper. Some, I understand, monitor all sorts of metrics concerning the user's health.
The facility that most impressed me (I should say 'made me laugh') when I visited Japan years ago is in their public toilets which, when you sit down, make a sound like a train going through, so that no one hears your wee or poo etc. You have to wonder how they manage when faced with Western public toilets.
Oh yes. The downside of those glorious multipurpose toilets was that all the symbols on the buttons were in Japanese. So you’d press randomly and wait for a surprise. I never heard the train noise, but how brilliant and hilarious. Ever heard the saying, “Next train down the line is the goods”?
😅 And it’s 30 years since I lived there so take me with a grain of salt.
You were more adventurous than either of us were. I think some of the symbols were labelled in English in our hotel and we stuck to those. My husband said he always imagined a hand coming up from below and doing some serious damage. He also said that the male public toilets didn't have any of the noises mine did. I have a feeling one of them might have played music - it was nearly 20 years ago and my memory is not what it was.
Don't know that one.
It’s a bit too vulgar for FB :)
Ann, you are a woman after my heart. I am an Epson Salts bubble bather and sit for at least an hour in as hot as I can stand it. I love to sit and simply thank the universe for all my blessings. One of them being that as an 86 year I am still physically and mentally able to get in the bathtub :)
I don't bathe as much as you do, Ann, but I am in the pool a fair amount and can vouch for the mind and body clearing qualities of water. Thanks for this piece!
Few people bathe as much as I do! It's absurd, but it suits me. Pools are good for thinking, but there is often too much going on. Pleased you liked the piece.
You are so right that there is a lot going on in pools. When I swim, there’s always this tension between the meditative aspect of it and all the other stuff happening around me!
When I swim, I am slightly away with the fairies. Last week. I clunked into someone who then told me off, although we were both slightly in the wrong. The most exciting moment was years ago, when again my mind was completely elsewhere and a lifeguard came from what seemed like nowhere and swam underneath me to rescue someone in a far lane. It was very dramatic and certainly removed any meditative state I was in. On the other hand, I was very impressed with his precision.
That would be a surprise!
Thinking and creative time for me is while I iron. I hate sitting in the tub. The water never covers enough of me. I shower 2x weekly or if I have sweat up a lather in the garden. Washing daily suits me!
Whatever works. I find ironing very soothing but it doesn't affect my creative juices. We are all so different.
I love baths too.
I love my evening bath to, Ann. Thanks for posting.
You're welcome. Bathers of the world unite, we nothing to lose but...(I wanted to be clever, but couldn't think of an ending. Can you?)
the day's stress? Not that clever, but it's what I lose.
One of the trade-offs for my happy life on a small sailboat is not taking baths. We take showers out in the cockpit. There is no drumming water. I miss sinking into a hot bath, and do so whenever we are traveling or visiting. Perhaps I will get to go swimming this summer, if the water ever gets warm enough!
I just came back from a swim and thought up a good idea for a thoughtful post. Probably not my next one, but it will emerge in its own time.
I also find water to be revitalizing, relaxing, and creatively stimulating. One weekend I was at a work retreat in a very nice hotel. One day I took 3 showers. Not because I was dirty, but because they made me feel so good. Hot, hot water. Simply delicious!
And hotel water is even free. I had no idea so many other people enjoyed bathing for all the ‘wrong’ reasons!
I find showers and baths to be stimulating as well.
My small soothing ritual is walking the dog, which can make me a bit dirty. Emily Dickinson composed poems while out with her dog. I am often thinking of the next sentence.
I think I would be too distracted by everything, Rona, but as the old saying goes, ‘whatever works’.
Walking is definitely my drawing board!
So nice to read this Anne. We had a big house revamp about 12 years ago and I insisted on having a bathroom with a bath - despite the arguments that it took up too much room. I have to confess that I can count on both hands just how little that bath has been used in the last 12 years. But your piece reminds me about why I wanted it in the first place. The peace and tranquility of sinking into a hot bath just (to quote a well known drink's advertising slogan) - "just reaches the parts that others can't"! I can remind myself now, that it is not about how often I use it, but the joy with which I do - that allows it justify its space!
Ah…., take a bath a think of me, Susan. Bubbles if you can. I used to always use bubbles but acquired a skin problem in my 70s and have to avoid that pleasure now.