My space at Dairy Hollow has a generous bathroom with a huge sunken tub. I prefer showers. As Kramer (Seinfeld) aptly explained, if I don’t have a good shower, I’m not myself. I feel weak and ineffectual…Showers are quick and efficient – in and out. Get on with the day. Waiting and waiting and waiting for the tub to fill with water makes me antsy. Baths are disgusting – sitting there in my own tepid pool of filth (again, Kramer greatness).
But somehow at Dairy Hollow a bathtub is fitting. I have no agenda. After a writing session and an invigorating hike through the chilly Ozarks, a steamy bath is relaxing.
As I soak, I stare at a photo over the tub. A framed photo from Where the Wild Things Are, a favorite children’s picture book by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak. Years ago my son and I read this book together each night, over and over. He memorized the words and recited it along with me. My son who is now in college…I wonder if he still remembers the words to the story?
Initially I thought it to be strange artwork for the bathroom, but as my mind cleared I realized the illustration is perfect.
The story is about imagination and magical travel and wild flights of fancy. It’s about playing and being creative. It’s about escaping to another place, another land, a world with a wild rumpus!
Even Max’s wolf costume is befitting for Halloween in Eureka Springs where zombies are soon to stagger down Spring Street.
Sometimes I think I could stay here forever, in the woods at my writing desk overlooking the turning leaves. But at the end of the week home will beckon. And I will sail back over a year and in and out of weeks and through a day and into the night of my very own home where supper will be waiting for me (maybe?)…
talya
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
Musical Pairing:
Come Away With Me, Norah Jones
“There should be a place where only the things you want to happen, happen.”
― Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are
Oh I’m so jealous! I want to go to a writer’s retreat!! Since I have now been able to find three hours on a Sunday morning to write, a week away from home is the next logical step, right???
Absolutely you do!
Hey Talya! I enjoyed reading this, very much, and I’m glad you’re enjoying your writer’s retreat in Eureka Springs. I’m sure the turning leaves there are just as awesome they are here in middle Tennessee; great atmosphere for fueling creativity. By the way, my brother, Barry, is an hour away from Eureka Springs. He lives in Berryville…haha…When he and his wife and two sons first moved there, he told his sons they named the town after him, and I don’t know, but I think they still believe him…but then again, probably not!=)
Splish,splash…
You and I need to compare notes. 🙂
yes we do.
Wish I were there!
I be not much on baths myself, however, I do like the asian custom of scrubbing down, rinsing off and then getting into a tub-that makes sense to me somehow. Anyhoo yet another thought provoking blog; and really isn’t that the point?
Great blog to end our hectic day! Now for a nice hot bath! Seriously! Ha ha
I’m a bath person, too, tho’ in a pinch, I’ll take a shower.
This is so good. Just as good as the first time. So thankful you get to go on these writer retreats.