Wednesday, January 20, 2010

bath or shower?




Snow's gone,
mashed mud skies,
dishwater suds and melted air
lash steel to my bones;

makes me old,
no coat, no skin.


Mine's been taken,
left bare, naked,
nowhere to go,

but a ritual soak in the tub;
forgotten pan in the kitchen sink,
waiting a scrub.


willow, 2010



You might have noticed this homage to Frida Kahlo I posted on my sidebar this week. It's in celebration of my freshly grouted bathtub at the manor. I don't know about you, but I much prefer a bath over a shower. Lately, the grout was looking sadly worse for wear around my tub, so I had resorted to showering, giving the old grout the "out of sight, out of mind" treatment.

Well, I'm happy to report, the grout is now freshly repaired, and I am once again enjoying my regenerating daily bathes. It's a habit I totally relish, with candles, bubbles and scent. I emerge a new woman. Since the snow has melted, and the dark, muddy cold has returned, a steamy bath is an absolute necessity.

73 comments:

  1. wonderful poem .. I know exactly how you feel:-)
    thanks for sharing
    martine

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  2. Baths are wonderful things indeed.
    Sadly I only have one about once a
    month
    hee hee
    but I do shower on a daily basis ( just in case you were worried)
    Your poems delight.

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  3. Wonderful poem.
    I can certainly appreciate the benefits of a nice hot bath, the sotthing of the mind and soul as well as the physical cleansing and stimulation. . .but I always take showers.
    I find that I have not much time, or rather I don't allow much time for pampering myself, but I do go for a nice hot shower and find it very relaxing all the same.
    I am not sure on this one, but I have a feeling the poll would show woman more often take baths while men prefer the shower. . .

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  4. Lovely poem! And I can sympathize. My beloved claw-foot tub where I soak and read and (sometimes) fall asleep, has been acting as a contingency reservoir in case we lose power (and water) again. But in these warmer days we're having just now, perhaps I can pull the plug and enjoy a long soak tonight.

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  5. Lovely flow to the poem Willow! Definitely prefer to soak, showers being a necessity most days. The luxury of a bath now that I pay for water is certainly that, and probably why I can no longer imbibe with my champagne bubble bath any longer. Chic loves to soak and float!

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  6. Vicki, we loose water with the power, as well, since we're on well water and depend on the pump. Hate it when that happens, usually with no back up.

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  7. "...waiting a scrub", not with the Brillo Pad I hope! Lovely poem and illustration Willow.For me, there seems so much more to bob around above the waterline these days. Can hear my inner voice of ablution say "Would you like to upgrade to extra hot, and will you be having extra bubbles with that?".I am spoilt for choices with the extra bubbles having received some Lush products for Christmas.They smell divine.

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  8. I agree, there is nothing like a bath.

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  9. Love it!

    I came over here and felt as if somebody had read my mind: You were my last stop before I head to the ... tub! I spent a couple of hours walking, the air so dank, I desire nothing more than a soak in the tub with a good read right now!

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  10. Oh yes! Soaking in the tub is as close as I get to meditation. It's SO good for the body and the brain.

    We didn't have a tub in our last house, but we're lucky here in our new house to have a huge jet tub -with skylights! I like to put a warm washcloth on my face and just drift. I also like a LOT of bubbles!

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  11. I used to take baths religiously - reading a book for two hours or more - adding more hot water as necessary. But I haven't had one since last April when I fell & broke my tail bone - ouch! I'm finally feeling like I might enjoy it again...

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  12. Always a bath for me too....good toes by the way, xv.

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  13. Lovely piece of writing, willow.

    Bath every night for me. Luckily we inherited a very large (albeit yellow) enamel bath with the house, so that you can lie down fully in it. Bliss. Don't sleep as well if I have to have a shower.

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  14. nice. i shower every day and save my baths for those times when therapy is needed. much like a pan left over. nicely done.

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  15. Baths are a treat for me. The shower is the daily wake up ritual. Reading your poem makes me want to go for a soak now.

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  16. I recently had a UTI and the only reason the doc could deduct is because I take baths. Yep I know TMI, but that is rough. He said no bubble bath or salts in the water. Well at least not every day.
    QMM

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  17. We are blessed with very hot water and I like to steam like a lobster! Sometimes the bathtub is full of grandchildren's toys so when I'm not up to scooping them into the basket, I opt for a hot shower. I heard a quote somewhere that hot water is better than sex? I won't commit on that sentiment, but it is definately the next best thing to a good night's sleep in a pinch. Enjoyed your poem.

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  18. This poem is wonderfully descriptive. I left for Copenhagen on Friday, and we could hardly get the car out of the drive for the snow. By the time I had returned, on Monday, it had all melted. It was very disconcerting. We are supposed to get some more tonight, though.

    I'm wondering if it is too late for a bath?

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  19. i prefer a shower over a bath, unless i have a bath buddy.

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  20. ah to have the time to bathe with candles and bubbles...good for you.

    much love

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  21. Oh yes, baths are the way to go--but I so miss the big old tub I had in my San Francisco apartment! It was like a pool. Fun poem--the barren winter weeks assuaged by a bath.

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  22. Beautiful thoughts! You have a lovely blog here, Willow.

    And thanks for visiting mine. :)

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  23. ahh there are willow's tootsies soaking in the manor bath!!! haven't seen them in a while!!! baths are magical - i set one up every so often with wine and candles and then fall asleep. wake up like a soaked raisin - all pruney and slightly chilled but what a nice journey. have a lovely evening. steven

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  24. Luxurious! We all need pampered on occasion : )

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  25. loved the shot when I saw it on your sidebar-glad to hear more about its origin--I had one of those bathrooms as well--don't look just shower and go--definitely not sanctuary material. Glad to hear you now can relax in style--btw is that wicked on your toes;-)
    best c

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  26. It's the shower for me. I'm not much of a soaker.

    Loved the ending of your poem...Left bare, naked,
    nowhere to go,
    .but for a ritual soak
    in the tub;
    like a forgotten pan
    .in the kitchen sink,
    after a meal,
    waiting a scrub.

    It conjures up such images.

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  27. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  28. I actually hate a bath. I have a certain paranoia about sitting in a bath tub, unless it is one of those gigantic ones.

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  29. Lovely poem. I always feel like a bath but never take them--I probably think I don't have time, which is not true--I'm going to now though. I really liked the picture.

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  30. Can so relate to the poem, Willow( especially the "melted air" part ). Well done m'dear :)

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  31. Love the poem and pic, especially the bit about "no coat, no skin,
    since mine's taken."

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  32. Showers when I am rushing off to work M thru F...but long, warm, scented, leisurely baths on the weekends...nothing more restorative than "taking the waters"...even if it is only in the tubby!
    The poem is right on target!

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  33. What a visual delight. Unfortunately, I shower never taking "time" for that regenerating bath

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  34. Oh, O do love a fabulous bath, just as you described. Problem is, I have to go upstairs, turn a heater on, then wait for the water to trickle out. Poo! So I really have to have had a very bad horrible no good day if Im going to indulge. But lemme tell you, the first thing I do when I stay in a hotel: Bubble bath!!!!!

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  35. very nice poem-- whenever I see this image of woman toes in the bubble tub-- I always think -- women have the bathtub and men have their garage.

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  36. I really enjoyed your poem, Willow. Showers are fine for splash and dash, but a good soak allows one some thinking time.

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  37. Are you a pan asking for a scrubbing? Because I like washing dishes.

    HAHAHAH! In print, that looks more ridiculous than it sounds in my head!

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  38. Your bathing routine sounds lovely! What a sweet way to pamper oneself... I must take it up. What candles scents do you prefer while bathing in winter?

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  39. Willow,
    While I can appreciate your love of the bath, I much prefer the shower. I like it as hot as barely tolerable coming from a rain-forest shower head 8 feet up. Or a sauna; now there's the ticket. A 170 degree sauna takes all the winter chill right out of me. :)
    Enjoy your soak dear Willow!
    rel

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  40. It's 4:30 a.m. and cold in here. I think that I shall soak in a tub of hot water with my cat curled upon my chest.

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  41. Love the poem - great desccription of after-snow muddies.

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  42. I know it looks better with fresh grout. Do you waterproof it? I did this several years ago when I was able to work around the house and waterproofed it and it still looks new and there is never any hint of mildew.

    I hope you are up and alert this morning so you can watch the Argentina Seal pups and the Elephant Seal pups on Sunrise Earth. I will try to get some good pictures off the television.

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  43. It is on the HD Theater. Or High Definition theater. I don't know the channel but it is in the 1100dreds on Time Warner Cable. BTW TWC just increased $10.00.

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  44. Angie I love Votivo candles. Right now the scent is "deep clover".

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  45. Jeff, you're making me blush :):):)

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  46. bath, bath, bath always ...
    avec bubbles & scent always

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  47. I am tempted to write a rebuttal (you could take a pun from that somehow) on the joys of showering. There's nothing like that initial hot spray hitting your head and streaming down over your face and shoulders and the length of your body. I think I just may have to write it. I'll let you know.

    (Not that baths don't have their benefits—it's just that a shower is an immediate revival.)

    More later,

    Kat

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  48. I'm a shower person but recently developed a rash as a side effect to a chemo treatment and was forced to take two Alveno baths a day, for half an hour each.

    And you no what, baths are relaxing! Deeply, deeply relaxing. Who knew?

    And with a good book to read, half an hour goes by in no time.

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  49. When we remodeled, I had a choice of a claw foot tub and no shower, or a shower stall large enough for me to have enough room to shave my long legs. Practicality, sadly, reared its head. No tub. Sigh.

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  50. Oh, yes, Kat, I'll be anxiously awaiting your reBUTTal...heehee.

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  51. That's a fine homage to a great pleasure: the bath. :)

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  52. Nowhere to go..but "for a soak", a very good place to be...evocative poem..
    I do the shower thing though, always in a hurry,(Aries, can't help it!)

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  53. Willow, It has just occurred to me (maybe someone has remarked on this already) that your profile pic is like the people in the movie, "Coraline". (I haven't seen it, but I know that they all have their eyes replaced with buttons.)

    Kat

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  54. I love the internal rhyming in your poem and the imagery of the cold in the second stanza was excellent.

    As for baths versus showers - in our previous English house we had a huge jacuzzi bath put in and I would spend hours (three was the most) in there. I loved them and all day long at work would think endlessly about getting into this luxurious bath.

    Now here in our French house we have a lovely shower with lots of jets and a regular bath - so I seem to spend longer in the shower.

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  55. i prefer the shower a.m. bath p.m. yet realize the waist in both...your post today, wonderfully put together!

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  56. My daughter and I were just talkin' about that...just in case the power goes out on this icy day in Iowa...

    My vote is bath...in the winter!

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  57. Great poem! Have you published your book yet on blurb, young lady?! you should--with accompanying photos, bien sur.

    Whenever I head to a hotel on the road, I scour the tub and jump right in. I actually bought rose petals that you fling into the tub and they turn into bath bubbles. Decadent, but soooo necessary when one's gone so long. It's indulgent. (Then, of course, I shower in the morning.) Needless to say, I require lots of lotions to smooth out the skin. I guess I'm high maintenance.

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  58. Loved the poem, Willow

    i am a morning shower girl and a nightime bath girl..makes for really good sleep zzzzzzzzzz

    more later, dear one

    kary
    xxx

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  59. Love the poem...I have a pan soaking in the sink right now...amazing metaphor!!
    I personally am a shower girl...hot, hot, hot!

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  60. ah with only one bathroom and the showering for the household happening in the tub, I find that I rarely take a bath.

    but this is good soaking weather. I think I'm inspired to to a good scrub so I can have a good soak!

    how I miss my old house in connecticut which may have also only had one bathroom, but in the bathroom we had a shower separate from the tub. how glorious was that!

    wonderful poem... we have mashed mud skies up here on the north coast - but there's a rumor that the sun will be coming out tomorrow!

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  61. I take showers but I take a tub bath when I relax. Which I should do tonight.

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  62. dear willow
    I have decided you must be the centre of the blogiverse as everywhere I go I encounter people who are your followers ... and wonder what it is about what you write that brings people back ... you are not vociferous or opinionated ... it is all just very quiet here:-)
    thanks for sharing
    martine

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  63. We moved into a new house the spring before last. On the top floor there is a large bathroom with an oversized double bath. No one else in my family can be bothered, but it is my refuge, my joy, my place of blissful relaxation.

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  64. Marc, we are kindred spirits, my friend. You are giving me an extreme case of bathtub envy!

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  65. Interesting poem. glad your grout is fixed. I havent had a bath in awhile and this posts is sending me to the tub.

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  66. I would rather have a nice warm shower than a bath anyday...and that is too bad since I have a beautiful old claw foot tub that just gets dusty...it was great for bathing the kids in when they were little...

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  67. Mmmm...I lived four years in an apartment with only a shower. We now have two bathtubs, one upstairs, one down. I indulge every chance it get. Baths are delicious!

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)