Clean days and Dirty days
On our little rock, we have sunny days, and, we have sunny days with occasional clouds. We also have “clean” days, and, “dirty” days with occasional smells. A clean day means we take a shower, wash our hair, and put on clean (but never ironed) clothes. The inspiration for such rare occasions is when it becomes necessary to do a little shopping downtown involving a bus trip, or an invitation to meet friends somewhere. If there are no buses or friends involved, why waste all that personal hygiene hanging at the beach, or just to visit the corner grocer?
Mornings move pretty slowly here. Life is so laid-back that the process of getting clean... really clean, consumes a considerable amount of concentration and physical energy. Too much energy on a hot day, and most other days too, for that matter.
It’s not as if we don’t have hot and cold running water – at least we do here in Grenada, which is more than we could say for our stay in Barbados ...I digress - but just consider all the exhausting steps involved in order to attain this notion of a clean, really clean objective:
Start the flow of water in the shower and hope the solar heated hot water kicks in along with the trickle of pressure that occurs while others in the complex are attempting the same fully naked activity - make sure the clip is ready to jury rig the valve button in place that lifts water to the overhead shower. A low pressure hazard...;
Shampoo hair, rinse, apply conditioner, rinse;
Exfoliate, wash, rinse;
Shave – legs for the first person in the shower, and face for the next – rusty razors slow down this part of the process a bit;
Dry off – only if needed, water usually evaporates right away due to ceiling fans, and is then replaced with a nice fresh sheen of sweat;
Put on deodorant before the sweat really gets going again;
Brush teeth – we are lucky as we have great tasting tap water here – no need to worry about frogs, lizards and snakes in a cistern;
Apply moisturizer and sunscreen – never forget the tops of your ears (you don't want to experience post-sun pork crackle ...I digress again...);
Blow-dry hair and hope you don’t blow a fuse;
Put on eye make-up, assuming it hasn't melted;
Put on clean underwear after shaking out things that could have taken up home in that drawer;
Find clothes that have been washed recently – move other items from the closet to the laundry to reduce the mouldy smells;
Apply clean clothes to a just-washed body that's already smelling somewhat suspicious;
Search for shoes that will still fit feet that have been flattened and enlarged by going barefoot all the time.
So many steps! So much effort! So much time invested!
In our previous lives, when we had careers and participated daily in that four-letter-word thing, we lived in a home where the temperature was never above 23 C., navigated the neighbourhood on paved streets, and walked the cities with sidewalks and stoplights. We were used to having early morning routines that involved all of the items in the list above, and more...add jewelery, polish shoes, find and pull on socks (that never happens now), ties and tight shirts, iron something that needs a touch-up, fancy scarves, seasonal pins and broaches, over coats, gloves... etc.. Whew!
Now, that hurry scurry scenario almost seems just as distant as The Dave Clark Five, bell bottoms, and tie-dyed shirts (although we are still wearing tie-dyed shirts). Anyway, all that fussing and preparation seems to be far too jarring and stressful to attempt now, with our well rested, fully retired and happy spirits.
Far more comfortable – and frequent – are the “dirty” days, when we roll out of bed, flatten our hair with our hands, grab a slice of toast and a cup of coffee, and then ponder the internet for an hour or two before we open our painting supplies to see if we can be inspired to put acrylic to canvas. Truth be told, sometimes we go from our bed to coffee, internet, painting, and then grab a snack from the fridge for lunch, and then partake in an afternoon nap, well before starting to contemplate a shower. All this in our underwear. On other days, a visit to the beach might be in the works, which would include replacing underwear with swimming suits directly after coffee and internet sessions. Up to now, no one seems to have noticed the oil slick when we dive into the clear blue at our favourite beach haunt...
We definitely try our best not to mix up clean days and dirty days. Why waste all the effort to get clean in the morning, only to get sweaty while holding a paint brush, or get salty from a snorkel session? Why short-change a productive day of painting by heading for the showers too early? Yes, we have found that it’s much more efficient and productive to keep clean days and dirty days separate.
However, we have noticed that there is a somewhat of a rather indisposed progression from clean days to dirty days. A shirt that’s freshly laundered is perfect for going out shopping, to lunch or dinner - on top of a clean body, of course. After that, it’s good for going to the local grocery store, the beach, or hanging on the back of a chair to keep your skin from sticking. Then the shirt’s fractional reuse-quotient gradually reduces to the point that it’s perfectly suitable for wiping up kitchen messes, and then progresses to cleaning the bathrooms. Finally, it can only be used after being turned inside out when Jan is working outside trying to grow his Moringa trees and other garden experiments... usually good for two days... After all, how could you possibly have a dirty day without a dirty T-shirt?