Not all of my stories are of pretty places and helping humans.
So, I’ve been on the road for 3 months now. I’ve been blessed to stay with some amazing friends sporadically along the way. These friends have provided couches, beds, conversations, experiences, and probably most importantly: showers.
I’ve also had the pleasure of working with a couple “Workaways”, where a host will offer some sort of housing, in exchange for various volunteer work. I’ve met some amazing people, taken some amazing showers.
It’s now been 26 days since either of those things have happened. 26 days since hanging out with my last friend. 26 days since my last Workaway. 26 days since I’ve felt the warm embrace of a shower’s offering. It’s another one of those things that I’ve just taken for granted all my life. I’ve just always had one handy. Whether I jumped in or not, was always up to me. Until now…
I’ve spent the past month in Arizona, with the last week driving through New Mexico, Texas and actual Mexico. There’s something that all of those places have in common: dust. Seriously. I mean most of Arizona is an actual desert. You walk outside, and are immediately greeted with waves of orange dust. Everything there is just a contrast color to Arizona’s varying shades of orange. There’s “Tang” orange. There’s “Children’s Chewable Aspirin” orange. There’s “Trumpface” orange. I’m going to assume that’s enough examples….
I’ve been spending the majority of my time outdoors, because temps are still a bit warm here, and well…Onyx and I love to explore. The only indoor activity I did was volunteering with Special Olympics Bowling in Tucson. Other than that, Onyx and I were outside every day. I just thought I was getting tan from all the sun exposure.
I know what you’re thinking: “where did you clean up???” and “how bad do you smell???”
Well, bathing has been dependent upon nature’s availability. Over the past month, there was Kaibab Lake near the Grand Canyon; there was Oak Creek in Sedona, AZ (say goodbye to your testicles! Brrrrrr…); there was Canyon Lake by the Superstition Mountains in the Tonto National Forest; there was Calavaras Lake near San Antonio; there was Surfside Beach near Houston; there was the Perdido River in BOTH Florida and Alabama simultaneously. But, what there wasn’t: a shower.
Thanks to my friend Dina, I do have stacks on stacks on stacks of baby wipes, which I use religiously. But, those, and the occasional (freezing) dip in the water just doesn’t really do the deed properly.
Fast forward to an hour ago. My good friend invited me to stay in her den. The build-up and excitement that led to this stay was palatable. It took two days of travel to get here (on my way to my next destination). And, for two days, all I could think about was a shower (sorry, Kerri! You’re cool, too!).
It did not disappoint. There are oils, and creams, and scrubs, and all the other accoutrements one would expect in a woman’s shower. But, something happened while I was scrubbing with “coconut oil infused, citrus-scented body scrub”: my color changed. Like…my actual skin color was now streaming down between my feet and escaping to the drain. What I thought was a tan from being outside hiking, exploring, and working, was actually just 26 days of Arizona dirt layers creating their own exfoliated mesa in my friend’s shower. I had to scrub the shower floor when I was done! Then, I had to shower again because I felt dirty from cleaning up the leftovers of the person I used to be.
BUT! I am now clean. And smell nice. My beard is soft and smooth from a coconut oil treatment. I am pasty and white again. And, I’m left with an unnerving question: I wonder how many layers Onyx has.
Comments