Hot Tubbing

"You sound like a woman who needs a vacation!" my friend said in her email. "Wanna get together and do something fun?" I passed the first time she extended the invitation. Having fun wasn't something I felt ready to jump into.

But the second invitation, after hearing from the doctor about the "finding," was appealing. A chance to get away and just jell. She offered either a lesson in cross country skiing or an afternoon in her hot tub. The lack of snow decided for us, but I have to admit, I was way leaning towards hot tub anyway.

I pulled into her snowless drive at 2 and her husband greeted me at the door. They were experiencing a typical laid back Saturday. She had made a delicious quiche and some gluten free cupcakes (chocolate cheesecake!) and he was working on kitchen cleanup and soup making. We all gathered in the warm inviting kitchen area to chat, catch up, and unwind a bit.

We decide to take a short walk to limber up our muscles before indulging in the hot tub, and we head up her street and around a loop. The whole distance is about a mile, and we do not hurry. Even though it is January, the day is pleasant and without the biting wind of winter or the flurry of snow.

Back at her house, I mosey down the hall to the bathroom and slip into my faded blue floral swimsuit. E-gads. Hope no body is looking! I tiptoe down the hall, through her bedroom and out onto the back patio where the hot tub is uncovered and steaming. It takes a bit of careful maneuvering to lower myself into the blue interior and sit in the sculpted seat.

I laugh because my body wants to float and I have a hard time staying put. She turns on the water jets and I am surrounded by gently massaging streams of hot water. It feels sooooooo good! She sets a glass of sparkling water near my side of the tub and climbs in.

The sky is robin's egg blue overhead, the air around us filled with floating bubbles rising from the steam. Birds are merrily chirruping around us as we are sheltered from view by the shrubby pine bushes. The sun is warm against our cheeks - I especially feel it on the top of my peach fuzz covered head. I remember reading about the importance of getting enough sun on your pineal gland so you don't get the winter blues. This should help.

We chat about retiring (she can't wait, I can't imagine ever retiring), what she will do when she retires (read a good book! be in a musical), our kids, work, stuff. Its wonderful to just be a lady of leisure, relax, and enjoy life. How many times does one get to do that, really?

I do not think about how many dirty dishes are waiting in my sink, or the piles of laundry. I do not concern myself with going grocery shopping or the 2 page paper I still need to write. I am not thinking about 70 pages of required reading I have yet to address. I refuse to worry about Sugar home alone while Drew is at Robotics and Kiel is out with friends. Nope.

I am on vacation. I didn't get one last summer. I have been pressing to get back up to speed after the grueling demands of cancer treatment. I am probably looking at more treatments yet to come. So I really need this vacation. And I will enjoy it to the full!

After several hours of relaxing, we are turning to prunes, so we reluctantly head inside to change. I bring the sun and blue skies and bird chatter in with me. We regroup over tea and cupcakes, then decide to play some piano duets. She finds the worn volume we have worked in before and we settle at the keyboard of her grand piano and pour over the pages. Schubert? No, too difficult. Rachmaninoff? Sure - we did that one before. A good place to start.

My poor fingers will not cooperate with my brain, and I make clunker after clunker until we are laughing hard. Tears of laughter blur my vision as we pick away at the music, taking a second and third swipe at doing what's written. She is a terrific sight reader, I not so much. I giggle at the lopsided rendition we give to waltzes and ballet pieces and lullabies, my not quite right treble against her perfect bass.

Anyone listening in must think we are crazy, but its so much fun and she is willing to indulge and encourage me. I love it. Finally, I have to give in to the tiredness creeping into my bones. It has been a wonderful day filled with good things. A great vacation. I don't care if I ever get to the stuff needing my attention.

One thing I am sure of - I will sleep well tonight. It has been so nice to not think about responsibilities or health issues or feel the weight of things on my mind. What a delightful way to take a break!