The writer has a distinct advantage over the traveler who only seeks comfort in his journeys. The writer allows herself to observe minor complications with a touch of humor. Take this morning's shower for instance. (I know, Herr Goethe, showers, their advantages and failures did not preoccupy your mind, but I also know that you were no stranger to unforeseen adventures and adaptations of the mind.)
This morning's shower started, as usual, with the (by me) selected water temperature. I already knew that I would have to work swiftly, since the stream might change in volume as well as temperature at any time. I rinsed my scalp, but not fast enough. I was holding the open shampoo container in my hand when the flow changed from warm to icy cold. I dropped the little shampoo bottle. It threatened to empty itself into the drain. Quickly I opened the shower door, reached for a couple of underthings and dropped them on the slick shower floor, since it is very difficult to keep one's footage without safety bumps or a bathmat; neither seem to be in use any longer. I stepped on my improvised mat, bent my body - carefully, slowly - in the direction of the drain. Just then my back responded to yet another change in water temperature and my head almost hit the tiled wall of my tiny enclosure. Here I have to add that chemo therapy seems to have impacted my balance and I sometimes stumble, even when the path is direct and unobstructed. But my body listens to my commands - at least most of the time - and I retrieved the bottle, shampooed my head, washed the rest of me without problem, though not without a few more temperature changes. When I was finished I managed to extract myself from my little torture cell without stumbling , a cautious attempt at freestyle maneuvering of body and limbs, since there is no safety bar to hold on to, nor is there any other reliable construct. I felt refreshed, clean, unhurt, and ready for the day. These sentences began to form in my mind without the benefit of my first morning cup of coffee, but not before I retrieved the underthings, wrung excess water out of them, placed them into a towel, rolled them up, and stomped on the roll with my bare feet. Voila! Clean laundry to hang over the shower frame.
After getting fully dressed I took the obligatory morning shot of the roof tops nearby, wrote this little essay, made and ate breakfast, tidied the apartment, recorded, briefly, an exchange between two nearby birds, and finally ..... well ....... off I go.......
Location:Weimar
No comments:
Post a Comment