SHOWER THE PEOPLE

It's New Year's Eve 2022, and yet I'm up at my customary 4:30am. Out of habit rather than necessity, since it's Saturday and I don't need to rush off to work. I'm in my robe sitting in the dark family room listening to the sound of the rain on the roof and the gentle snore of my dogs as they sleep.

In an hour I will doff the robe and run through my morning exercises. The holiday season has made a rather serious dent in my physical improvement. I had been down thirty pounds, and exercising up to 45 minutes a day, but since mid-November my habits have slipped. I fell off keto and have gained a handful of pounds back, and gotten lazy with the exercise. That all changes tomorrow. Back on keto, back on intermittent fasting.

Love this picture...

Much of my thoughts lately have been on physical enjoyment. I'm, as I've described myself, a Bohemian Hedonist at heart, even if my day-to-day lifestyle doesn't seem to reflect it. I have a deep appreciation for the sensual things in life, and if given the option would be 100% all about spending my time in pursuit of physical pleasures. In a healthy way, of course. Exercising - the dancing I do - is a truly joyful activity...I just got lazy about it.

Another thing for the new year is to get more bodywork. I love massages. Lying on a table as someone luxuriously works the knots and muscles in my body is one of my life's great pleasures. Skin contact is essential for any balanced animal - look at how physical contact is an important part of our lives, and even the lives of the rest of the animal kingdom. Rubbing against each other, hugging, gentle touch. All are important parts of our physicality. 

I love swimming and tanning in the back yard - though my new work schedule severely undercuts my daytime activities. I'm a lot more pale than I was a year ago. And my swimming has also taken a hit. I leave for work at 7:14am and usually get back home around 5-5:30. Not a lot of time in the sun, especially this time of year.

I'm also a huge fan of showers and baths. I love the sensation of warm water cascading down my body, making the shower a uniquely hedonistic pleasure all on its own. I've always taken real enjoyment in showering, even as a child.

A surprising childhood memory was being in the shower and taking note of the sounds of water in the pipes. It was an enormously relaxing sound and I laid down on the floor of the shower, listening to the liquid hiss of the water through the pipes and feeling the spray of it on my body. I must've been around six, but even then responded to the sensuality of the experience, even if I was a decade away from understanding what sensuality was.

That singular memory is the first time I can recall enjoying the shower, but certainly not the last. Growing up I would take long showers, most of which were in the combination shower/tub in what we called "the kid's bathroom." My parents usually had just a shower in the master bedroom, and on more than a handful of occasions I would be caught using their shower rather than the kids shower. I'd blame my sisters for hogging the other one, and usually I got away with it.

One of the practices I got into with the shower/tub combination was lying down with the water running and letting the tub fill. I'd have the shower curtain tucked in front of my face and just let the warm water envelop my body. I'd let the tub fill, then let the water out and refill it again. (Yes, I realize that was enormously wasteful. I was a kid.)

This extended even into my college years. It probably annoyed the hell out of my dorm mates, but I'd do the same thing in the tub in the communal bathroom. I wouldn't tuck the curtain back, of course, but I'd lie in the tub and let the water fill and drain, fill and drain. At that point I was familiar with the workings of the adult body and took a great deal of pleasure in the sensuality of the experience.

And it was in college that I discovered that showering with other people was even more fun than showering alone. Not just sexually, but sensually. Washing someone's back and letting them wash yours. The gentle glide of soapy hands on skin, the warmth of water cascading down our bodies. Even the sensual act of drying each other off. 

My first college girlfriend and I would sneak into the communal men's shower in my hallway late at night and shower together. She was as much a fan as I was, and when we broke up it was chiefly the lonely showers that were the most painful part of the separation. I never had another partner that enjoyed showers with other people quite as much as she did.

Later in life, after marriage and years of hard work earning enough money to afford our own house, we bid farewell to decades of apartments and condos. And in our new house we installed showers big enough for two or more people.

(The newer remodel, in which we added a new master suite, has a shower large enough for a group, though it's never held more than two - and even that only a couple of times.)

Showers are also great places for conversation. The may sound a bit weird, particularly since most people shower alone. But I've enjoyed quite a few conversations with other guys at the gym as we showered after a workout, or with my wife or one of our friends as one of us showered at the house or on vacation.

(One particular set of memories comes to mind with my friend "Mike." As I've discussed a number of times, he and a I are quite close and have frequently seen and spent time with each other naked. Mike, his wife, my wife and I have vacationed together a few times. On more than one occasion they've shown up to our room, or vice versa, when Mike or me are still in the shower. Usually Mike or I will go in as the other is showering and sit on the counter as the other finishes, talking about plans or whatever. The first time was in Las Vegas. We were in their room, and the ladies decided to go shopping. Mike said he was going to take a bath and as the wives were leaving he just said "you can stick around, I could use the company." He got in the bath, I sat on the floor next to it and we talked. It's a pleasant part of our bond, though come to think of it other than at the gym we've never actually showered together.)

"Here's the soap..."

As I wrote above, it's raining outside. I am reminded that it's not just indoor showers I enjoy. This morning, in the dark and in the rain, I had to go out to turn off the sprinklers. It being dark and my yard private I just dropped the robe and went out, feeling the cold rain on my skin. After turning off the sprinklers I walked slowly around the pool and enjoyed the chill and gentle rain. Genuinely a sensual pleasure. 

So much of a pleasure I think I'm going to put this entry to bed, take a pass at this morning's workout and cool off afterward enjoying the pleasure of walking in the rain. 

Happy New Year.