The Purpose of Bathing
After eating my Peanut Butter and Jam English muffin, I bathed. Rarely do I take a shower because I feel taking a shower is sort of the lower class of a bath. Taking a shower means you have to do something at great speed, or the only purpose is to clean yourself. But alas, a bath is one taking over time, even denying time to soak themselves in a small body of water. Today I took a scented bath (smells like a forest in some imaginary land) while reading the play "The Cherry Orchard" by Anton Chekhov. It seemed appropriate to read this while taking a bath. Doing nothing can almost be seen as a political act today.
Carl Laemmle, the father of Universal Pictures, is so much part of my history with respect to my love for films. But the film medium is so fragile, and I remember reading that all his property or place of business was eventually torn down. Only in the San Fernando Valley is his true home still in a permanent location. But before that, his residence was owned by Thomas Ince, whose house was razed in the '40s. Stars, film, and the Cherry Orchard don't last forever!
I think about things like that while taking a bath. Where I live is also where Mack Sennett worked and lived - yet where is his studio or home? Shouldn't a plaque praise and acknowledge this great figure of cinema history? But then again, perhaps there is a plaque. Often I have trouble explaining myself; at times, I suffer from what Ronald Firbank suffers from, which is a feeling of not belonging. Nevertheless, I rarely think about these matters once I am out of the bathtub.
My grandfather on my mother's side, who died before I was born, was an insurance claims adjuster who specialized in accidents in the home. He raised my mother to have an abject terror of home accidents, especially in the bathroom. Statistics back him up. My mother, in turn, passed that paranoia on to me. Standing while taking a shower terrifies me. Rubber mats and non-slip appliques are havens for fungi, but showering without them is taking your life in your hands. Or your feet, to be precise. Taking an actual bath is the only rational solution to this problem.