Why, is one missing?

I just took the greatest shower ever. Maybe to say "ever," is a bit hyperbolic, especially at my young age, but I would at the very least include it in the top five. The only other one that even comes close is when I was twelve and realized that I could masturbate in the shower as well as my bedroom. This time lacked as erotic a context, but that in no way made it any less memorable.

I'm not a major hygiene fanatic. I still take a small bit of pride in the fact that the summer before ninth grade I went for ten days without so much as looking at a single cleaning product. This was a one time occurance though; I tend to settle near the "Musky" end of the Man Continuum, so regular showering is a bit of a necessity in order to avoid becoming a social pariah.

This shower was different though. It was the capstone of a ten-hour workday that consisted of reasonably strenuous work outdoors. The temperature danced around the freezing point all day and the sun strained to penetrate the cloud cover, often with success. This of course resulted in the bitter combination of a wind-chapped face with light sunburn. There was barely sufficient energy left in me to drag my exhausted carcass up to the bathroom, but am I glad that I did.

Initially, it was just a relief to peel away the four layers of clothing in which I had been toiling since seven A.M. The moment the warm water hit my shoulders, a wave of euphoria rippled through my entire essence. Everything else in the universe vanished in a flash. For many minutes, I merely stood there letting the warm cascade purge my body of the chill that had been my steadfast companion all day. I lowered my head and looked down at my hands. What had only a day earlier had been the soft hands of a brooding student with a creative streak were now the hardened hands of a man; the dull throb of new callouses and raw, nigh-bloody cuticles became a part of me as soap merged with the sweat of an honest day's work.

Although I could have dwelled in that paradise for weeks, logic told me that the hot water would soon be depleted, and rather than taint this experience with a reminder of the frigidity that had caused me to seek steamy sanctuary in the first place, I begrudgingly turned the tap until the rain of life ceased. I was cold, naked, and left with only the memory of that one incredible shower.