August 17 Studio and Shower

This is a photo of the inside of the studio apartment I will be moving into at the end of this month. It is situated behind the house of my good friends, S, L, and S. The window looks out onto their beautiful garden. I'll be right in the middle of San Luis, only about 15 miles inland from Los Osos. There is a grand piano in the middle of the living room, and one of my new neighbors promised to come play it while I'm there. Also, the bathtub is awesome.

My plan is to sublet my little house near the beach for the next six months or so. I'll leave all my furniture there and the utilities in my name so that moving back in will be easy when the time comes. I've talked to several potential tenants, but my favorite contenders are a young couple moving up from Lake Cachuma. They have wild animal nicknames, and didn't think it was odd at all that I am called "Magic."

This next photo illustrated my brilliant solution to a recent dilemma. I was so excited on Saturday to finally be allowed to take a shower. I hadn't washed my hair since the day before surgery, an no amount of scrubbing my armpits with a damp washcloth had helped me to feel actually clean. The problem was, I was so upset and disgusted when I looked at my naked chest that I just couldn't bear the thought of staying undressed for more than five seconds at a time. I thought about waiting until nightfall and taking a shower with the bathroom lights turned off, but that seemed dangerous. Blindfolding myself also seemed dangerous, and emotionally disturbing. The last thing I need right now is to become more emotionally disturbed than I already am. So I took a good long look at the nightshirt I was wearing and decided it could stand a good wetting, too.

At first I felt weird, but once the shirt got soaked with hot water I didn't mind it at all. I was able to thoroughly scrub myself down without any danger of disrupting my pleasant state of denial regarding my physical appearance. I felt like one of those really modest Victorian ladies, who's too shy to be naked even when she's all alone. But whatever--it worked.