Used Bath Water

I have had a looooong weekend! Yesterday was spent helping with the wedding of some good friends of mine, and today was spent in Pacifica celebrating the ordination of another friend. Still, even though they were happy times, I was tired on the drive home tonight. When I walked in the door I told Darren how great the house looked. He replied "At least it's better than how our upstairs bathroom looks". Ugh, what happened? Toilet overflow? Pipe leak? By his voice the conclusion was drawn that it was not going to be pretty. Jennifer and I trudged up the stairs to greet whatever catastrophe was there to meet us.

But instead, a glow lit the master bedroom, a soft glow of candlelight. We turned the corner and the large tub was filled with wonderful scented water and surrounded with candles... My husband gave me what I would not have given myself - a break! I had planned on immediately throwing in a load of laundry the second I walked in - I'm so glad it was interrupted.

While I was in the tub I had a funny memory. When I was little and I had taken my bath, I would always offer my water to my dad. "Hey dad, you wanna use my bathwater?" I thought I was giving the gift of a lifetime - hot water already drawn for a bath. How convenient, right? "You bet!" he'd say, and once I was done, he would go into he bathroom and shut the door. Looking back, I now realize that I was giving him what probably amounted to about 6 inches of tepid water, and it was used bath water at that! I laughed at how my perception was so different back then. What a good sport my dad was to play along - now I understand why I always heard the water turn back on as he probably was filling up the rest of the tub with nice hot water. I love you dad :)