almost as good as my morning coffee

My bathroom has a "garden tub", I guess it's called--oval with jets. And, at first I thought that sounded great, and made a few efforts to enjoy the occasional nightly bath for unwinding and such. But, I just didn't get much out of it. I soaked in the warmth (which wasn't easy--I often added a kettle of boiling water since my bathroom is so very far from the water heater!), read my current book, bathed and got out chilled. Annoyed, I stopped doing this pretty quickly. I didn't feel "relaxed" or "refreshed" or anything good. It was a pain. I've never been a huge bath-taker, so I told my husband he could have the tub, I didn't care for it (and yes, he loves it--shhh!).

Secretly, I long for a claw-foot tub--I had the luxury one time and that, my friends, was wonderful. They are long enough to stretch out your legs, conformed enough to fit your back like the best of chairs, and deep enough so soak your body easily and entirely (and retain the heat!). Yes, that is a dream for "someday"!

However, I recently discovered a new love for my tub.

Mornings.

See, my shower rarely gets hot enough and the bathroom is just big enough to NOT trap the steam for added warmth. I never thought I'd miss my tiny bathroom of the old house, but . . . anyway. I like heat when I bathe, and it wasn't happening. Then one morning as the sun was spilling through my frosted window above the tub I was inspired to run as much hot water as I could (as in learning when to turn it off so as to maximize the heat and not worry about quantity quite as much). I climbed in. The bathroom was still cold, but the water was appropriately hot in comparison. I only spent a few minutes, but the heat soaked in and compensated for the chill above the water. When I got out, I felt . . . refreshed.

I was shocked. I thought it was a chance occurance and so tried it again another day. And again. And again. And each time I was enjoying my bath. The warm sun helped tremendously, but even if it's not awake yet, I like my morning bath. Short, but oh so warming. I can't take one every morning, but I can still get my coffee when I need it, so that's okay.