Yesterday I took a bath

Yesterday for the first time in years, I took a bath. And i felt myself relax.

I listened to a playlist: favourite music from 2021. 6 albums. We'll get to that later, dear readers.

Yesterday i had a bath. At the end of the day. After a long walk with Charles first thing in the morning where we just went out right after breakfast because the sun was out and it was supposed to rain all day and most of the night. So we walked. We held hands. We talked. We sat on the patio of Planet Coffee in the Byward Market. We drank our tripple shot Americanos, his with sugar, mine with a splash of cream and cinnamon.

i took a bath for the first time in a long time. I didn't have anything fragrant to add to the bath. It had been so long, I haven't purchased such things. To be honest I have never found a bath bomb or product with a long enough and satisfying enough scent . I would like eucalyptus and lavender. I uses to drink Lagavulin, my favourite Scotch, in the tub. I cannot afford that any longer. I used to drink a mug of Irish Breakfast tea while I soaked in the tub, enjoying warmth on my body and within from the heat of the tea. I'd forgotten about these rituals last night when I decided to take a bath.

We have a mat in the tub. It is made of scratchy material but it keeps us from slipping while we shower. I kept the mat in while I had my bath.

Charles replaces the mat and cleans the tub every weekend. We have a little plug that catches the hair. He removes the hair. So many reasons why I love this man.

The plumbing in our apartment is so old, the super has trouble finding replacement parts. We have lived in this building for 21 years.

I kneeled on the scratchy mat and tipped my head beneath the tap to waah my hair. The shower dripped cold water onto my back. It amused me.

I lay back, enjoying the heat, the sloshing sounds, the music. I felt my body relax as I covered my legs in shaving gel, as I glided the razor along: shins, calves, knees, inner thighs. When I shower, I shave my legs daily while standing up. But lying down in the tub, I was able to be more attentive.

Darling readers, if I am vain about anything, it is my legs. They are long. They are shapely. And since I began my journey to fitness in 2020, they have become well-toned.

I lay in the tub while my favourite music from albums we had purchased in 2021 played. Years ago I had an out of control music addiction. I spent a lot of money on music from iTunes and Bandcamp. When I'm writing, I find certain music will act like a performance enhancing drug. I realized my music spending was getting out of control one month when I had spent $300 on music. I talked to Charles about it. We came up with a much more affordable monthly amount. So for many years, every month, I bought new albums. In 2023, when Charles was laid off, that expense was one of the first to go. But we have a lot of great music. I have playlists for everything. I also use Spotify, now just the free account but I always preferred to own music and to pay for it.

Back to the bath. When I was 5 and my family had lived in Canada for three years, my mother decided we would return to England. She, my sister and I moved in to my grandparents house in Sheffield in Yorkshire. My brother and dad were supposed to join us after they sold our house in Wilfrid, Ontario.

For hot water at my grandparents house, we had to fees coins into a meter. For this reason the bathwater was shared..I got to go first. It was a massive tub or I was so small it felt tiny. There was a big cake of lavender scented soap. Lovely. My mother scrubbed me from head to foot and washes my hair..I was allowed to stay in the tub on my own until my fingers grew pruny. I played with the shampoo caps,.they bobbed and floated. I covered my small body with a washcloth. I always think of how good it felt to lie in that tub when I take a bath now.

Our apartment tub is standard size, not fancy but totally fine. There is plenty of hot water.

Yesterday i took a bath. While i savoured the way the heat soaked into me, I looked at my body, the scars from three abdominal surgeries, two from my health crisis: colon removal and bowel resection, the third from appendix removal when i was 7, very faint now but still there.

I don't like to touch my scars. I can't handle anyone else touching them either. The most recent from 2009 and 2011 are still sensitive.

Yesterday, i took a bath and i relaxed. Just before dinner, I dealt with something I have been fretting about for weeks. It isn't completely resolved but I have done something constructive towards its resolution and this has helped.

Yesterday I took a bath. I let myself unwind. Since I had Covid earlier this month, I have felt tightly wound. My brain has been crowded with ideas, worries, noise. Last night in the bath, I felt it settling. I felt like I was starting to have one thought at a time again. Like I was getting my focus back. It quietened down.

I could share the details of why i stopped taking baths. I don't feel like getting into my ongoing issues with Eczema now.

Yesterday I took a bath and my whole body let go, my brain let go. It felt good.

Music during the bath was from Leanne Betasamosake Simpson's album, the Theory of Ice; Melody McKiver's Returning Home; Billie Eilish, Happier Than Ever; Arooj Aftab, Culture Prince.

Tell me about the best baths you have ever taken, friends. Your rituals, your favourite bubble bath, whether you read or play music. I'd love to hear.