Time Warp?

So it hit me this morning as I rushed to get dressed, the problem isn't that I get in the shower too late it's that I think too much.

I take long showers. It is my one great environmental failing. (That and not recycling steel cans.) If Lake Tuscaloosa weren't so much larger than Tuscaloosa really needs, I would be better about this.* Anyway, back to why my showers are so long. I always shower in the morning. My hair is just greasy enough to need to be washed every morning and it is part of my wake up routine.

Sometimes I take long showers to warm up. This is particularly true this time of year. I've been known to stay in until my toes are warm. Sometimes I take a shower/bath and it takes a while to fill the tub (especially when you turn down the water so you can keep the hot water from running out.;) Sometimes I just stand there and all but fall asleep. Most of the time I really don't know where the time goes.

One weekday mornings I use the timer on my little shower radio so I have some idea of how long I've been in there and that I really need to get a move on. Often I'll set it for 15 minutes. When it turns off I know I need to wash my hair and get out. (Washing my hair is always the last thing I do. Washing my face is usually the second to last thing I do.) When I get out of the shower I'm sometimes floored by the amount of time that has passed. Where did it go? This morning provides a clue.

As I was rinsing my face off, I started thinking about something**. Really pondering it. I was finally awake enough to string more than two thoughts together and this thing just popped up and I started wondering. I'm not sure how long I stood there but it was far longer than I intended. Really, I have no clue how much time passed. So maybe that's where all that time goes - random musings. If I'd just not let my brain start working on something, I could get out.

If I'm really really late I rush through my shower and don't get a chance to daydream. If I get up on time, I have plenty to spend in the shower. If I snooze, I'm late to work.



*But really even with the drought this year, we still have plenty of water. The lake is lower than I've ever seen it but we have plenty of drinking water. If we have a dry winter, things may change. Also, I have little sympathy for Atlanta (the people yes, the planners no) because they've had their head in the sand about the needs of the city and the capacity of Lake Lanier for about 20 years AND didn't start restricting users (except landscapers) until September. They partially brought the crisis on themselves.

**Do I start talking mid-thought? My mother sometimes starts mid-story (like she thinks she's told you the background info before) but I swear several times lately she seems to have missed the first half of my first sentence and the whole conversation gets confused from there. So do I start mid-sentence or was Mom just not listening well?