On bathtubs and bathing...

I have almost always hate bathing. I see it as akin to soaking dirty dishes in water. Ick...and I have avoided baths most of my life.

The house at 2519 W College Ave where I grew up, intermittently, did not have a shower. It had a claw footed bathtub, where I bathed until 1 month before I turned 13. Then I went to live with my father and step-mother and from that time on we had the "modern" kinds of bathtubs that don't hold a candle to a claw-footed tub in depth/length/comfort. I stopped bathing at that time.

Throughout my life I heard people wax eloquent about the relaxation of baths...I laughed at the thought. 

Then we moved into the Lincoln house up here in Spokane. It only had an enclosed, claw-footed tub. We learned to deal with bathing instead of showering (although I had to be taught how to sit down in a tub again - crazy!!!). 

And then, three moves later, I moved here, to The Daniels apartments, which also only has a claw-footed tub. And I finally learned why people like these things...

Epsom-salt baths by candlelight are very soothing. Add music and a drink, or your Kindle and a cup of coffee and it becomes almost spa-like. 21 months of bathing in unlimited hot water, paid for by my apartment complex, where you can let the water run after you get in the tub and therefore keep it hot, has been amazing as I negotiated the emotional morass of my divorce and beyond and the pain of my hurt foot and knee. 

Now we have applied for a new apartment that only has that molded, one-piece, modern kind of tub that makes bathing a waste of time...and I realize...I'm really going to miss this...