A Midsummer's Night Shower

      My nights, like most, I spend doing little other than going to the gym, showering and then spending the rest of the evening reading books on my kindle….. Yeah that’s right, a kindle (elite reader, right here).  But tonight I found a doorway into my own personal heaven. As I was leaving the tenth circle of hell (my current job), a nurse gave me a can of coke, as if knowing it would lead to an experience of pure bliss. Not thinking anything of it, I thanked the lady for the highly caffeinated high fructose temptation and headed for the gym.

For reasons unknown to me I just couldn’t get into my normal groove of self depreciation and unwavering fortitude that envelopes me when I begin to sculpt my gangly body. Instead of boring you with the rigorous self-indulgence of my routine I will just state that I focused on the thin flesh tubes I call my arms and pushed them till they became even more like limp noodles.

Upon arriving at my abode I decide to make myself a bourbon and coke (thank you LPN Debbie), grabbed my towel and a KOOL cigarette and headed outside to my little secret shower. Turning on the little strings of Christmas lights that run erratically thru my shower I prepared myself for a nice relaxing reprieve. Now my outdoor shower is not what you may think. It is far from a boxed area hooked up to a hose that douses me with sulfuric water intended for outdoor use only. No, this wonderful nook in a lightly bricked area dotted with mosaic tiles, enshrouded by vines of night blooming jasmine and ivy with a weathered worn wooden stand topped off with an eclectic silver shower head. The metallic provider of water peaks out above the vines to rain clear refreshing beauty upon my naked body. And I refused to have to bath in water fit only for a dog (not saying that is bad). Nay, this water is hooked up straight from the interior, just without the usefulness of having hot water.

On this hot summer night I disrobed, turned on the faucet, lit my square, grabbed my delicious cocktail and stepped into a realm I never thought would transcend me into a world of bliss. Taking a long pull from my square and a deep drink of bourbon I immersed myself in the cool crisp cascading waters. The mixture of nicotine, alcohol and water sent a shiver of ecstasy throughout my body and deep into the core of my essence. I was in heaven, for lack of a better word. The water brought new life into my weary frame and the drink lit a fire in my soul while the KOOL acted as a catalyst and fused the two into a wonderful feeling of euphoria, as if this is what I was meant to do with my life.

Yes, yes, I am fully aware that no one was meant to just shower and become intoxicated. What a simple yet unproductive life that would be. But for that brief 20 minutes I felt like there was nothing but me and that shower. A universe created around the simple joys in life.. An almost “The Fountain”-esque reality where that 8x8 chunk of Earth was encompassed by a bubble floating thru the cosmos.  And that is one it struck me, like a bolt of angelic lightning. If heaven did truly exist, this would be mine. I could imagine that if I died and a reaper from “Dead Like Me” helped me on into my afterlife, you would see a silvery halo around a small archway leading to masses of ivory and wildflower enshrouding a silver lined shower. It would be lit with fire flies on a warm dark night. There would be two little stands, one with a glass of never ending American Honey that would withstand the cascading waters, never overflowing and never diluting. The other would hold a square that would resist the dampness like that of a ducks feathers and burn with holy fire that no amount of water could extinguish. I would spend eternity in those revitalizing waters, without a care in the netherworld.

I know that this is a tad bit on the ridiculous side, but hey, that is what a personal heaven is all about. Bliss, peace, and never ending happiness. Yet here I remain, alive and mostly well. So until the day I can transcend to this small patch of other worldliness I shall hope and dream. And every night I shall bask in the idea that I have truly found heaven on Earth. My love, my peace, my outdoor shower