Soak Thoughts

It's been colder lately, making the tub a lot more attractive than it already is. Honestly, I should buy Bath and Body Works stock -- I use so much of their stuff! The most attractive part of it is that I get so much thinking done. I used to do much of my thinking on 2-hour bus trips between Argao and Cebu City. The tub provides that kind of peace and solace, only a million times better!

Sometimes, I read in the tub. It's a good place for those weekly fashion mags, which won't break my heart if they get wet. If I have a really good book that demands every free second, then I'd take the risk on a paperback. My Mom taught(like REALLY taught) me to respect books. She'd strangle me if she saw the books that got damaged because I read in the tub.

In the Philippines, tubs are not in fashion. At least, where I'm from, its not. Who needs a tub when the sea is only steps away? Plus, it is warmer over there, so hot showers are pretty much out of the question. Sometimes, though, if one must take a bath before the sun is up, the water can get pretty cold. That's when the thermos is emptied into a couple pails of water to make warm bath water.

So here I am, and I love my tub. It is where I resolve why certain people behave a certain way and how I should deal with them. It is where I get ideas on what to cook, crochet, read, watch on TV, solve a puzzle, clean, buy, look up, blog about. It is where I get homesick and remember the people and things that I love in the Philippines(sometimes I call family and friends when I'm in the tub!). I like the silence, the smell and the warmth of the tub.

Last night on my daily soak, I remembered an anecdote from the Reader's Digest. Someone wrote 'THINK' on the sink. Some smart guy wrote 'THOAP' on a piece of paper and placed it right near the soap. I guess that makes a bubble bath a 'THOAK'!

One of my college classmates had a lisp. And in a English Communications class, he was unfortunate enough to get "She sells sea shells....." for his tongue-twister test. Horrors! He is quite comfortable with his lisp (he's actually used it to his advantage), and well, he does not know what stage fright is. He just went on with it like it was the most normal thing in the world. We were laughing so hard, and so was he. I thought that was so wonderful: instead of being ashamed or embarassed, he faced the challenge and was able to laugh at himself. He showed us that just because he can't pronounce it properly, he's not gonna back down and not try. Big lesson I learned from this fellow.