Water Conservation Rev 4
Up10 minutes before the alarm, she picks up the remote from a bedside table and turns on the TV; the newscasters drone the accompaniment to her morning routine. The air is still; punctuated only by the rise in the volume that comes with every advertisement, or a few seconds of music signaling the beginning of the next ad in the break. Next move, into the kitchen to flip on the coffee maker; the filter in place ready to go from the night before.
Cracking open the patio door for the dog, she heads under an arched doorway into the master bathroom covered floor to ceiling in tile from Tecate, a Mexican town on California's southern border. Years of polish, and sand, and bare feet have softened the uneven surface and deepened the color. She reaches into the shower. Not too cold, she thinks, grabbing a fresh towel from the cabinet and tossing it onto the vintage vanity where that cool red sink, found at a swap meet, is perfectly centered.
Pulling off her sleeping tee, she starts to get into the shower, briefly considering a quick trip, bare-assed, into the garage. Keep a bucket in your bathroom and use the water to water your landscape or to flush your toilet. She had mentioned this water saving idea to her students’ yesterday afternoon. Hesitating for a moment, she decides it’s too much trouble. I will definitely start doing it tomorrow.
A few minutes later she emerges, grabbing the towel by a corner and flinging it around her dampened torso. She takes a smaller teal colored hand towel from the rattan shelf above the toilet, and wraps it around her head- leaching the last drops from her shoulder length bob.
Striding into the bedroom she pauses briefly in front of the closet- glancing at herself in the mirrored doors unselfconsciously .It's going to be a hot one today she says aloud to the news anchor. She grabs some undies and a sports bra and a second later she is ready to head out- in a skirt and a simple sleeveless knit top and shoes she can walk in.
Oops, almost forgot. She pauses for a moment, performing five “Sun Salutations” to ready her body for the physical demands of the day ahead. Grabbing her ‘to go’ mug from the kitchen counter- along with a banana, apple and a fat free yogurt, she slips into her car and hits the remote.
While she waits for the new day to appear, she grabs a pack of multi-vitamins and a protein bar from the bin between the seats and swallows the tablets with a gulp of water, tears the wrapping off the bar with her teeth, and simultaneously backs out of the garage. Pausing to change gears as the door closes, she remembers she left the dog in the yard, the back door wide open, and hits the remote button a second time.
She maneuvers out of the drivers door, leaving the engine running and the doors unlocked and runs back through the garage into the house yelling "Buddy, come" and as her little puppy rushes through the door, she taps it shut with the index finger of her right hand, spins around, and trips on the edge of the Navajo rug.
."Shit, slow down" she says, collapsing on the couch to catch her breath.
©2010 Sharon J Corrigan
Cracking open the patio door for the dog, she heads under an arched doorway into the master bathroom covered floor to ceiling in tile from Tecate, a Mexican town on California's southern border. Years of polish, and sand, and bare feet have softened the uneven surface and deepened the color. She reaches into the shower. Not too cold, she thinks, grabbing a fresh towel from the cabinet and tossing it onto the vintage vanity where that cool red sink, found at a swap meet, is perfectly centered.
Pulling off her sleeping tee, she starts to get into the shower, briefly considering a quick trip, bare-assed, into the garage. Keep a bucket in your bathroom and use the water to water your landscape or to flush your toilet. She had mentioned this water saving idea to her students’ yesterday afternoon. Hesitating for a moment, she decides it’s too much trouble. I will definitely start doing it tomorrow.
A few minutes later she emerges, grabbing the towel by a corner and flinging it around her dampened torso. She takes a smaller teal colored hand towel from the rattan shelf above the toilet, and wraps it around her head- leaching the last drops from her shoulder length bob.
Striding into the bedroom she pauses briefly in front of the closet- glancing at herself in the mirrored doors unselfconsciously .It's going to be a hot one today she says aloud to the news anchor. She grabs some undies and a sports bra and a second later she is ready to head out- in a skirt and a simple sleeveless knit top and shoes she can walk in.
Oops, almost forgot. She pauses for a moment, performing five “Sun Salutations” to ready her body for the physical demands of the day ahead. Grabbing her ‘to go’ mug from the kitchen counter- along with a banana, apple and a fat free yogurt, she slips into her car and hits the remote.
While she waits for the new day to appear, she grabs a pack of multi-vitamins and a protein bar from the bin between the seats and swallows the tablets with a gulp of water, tears the wrapping off the bar with her teeth, and simultaneously backs out of the garage. Pausing to change gears as the door closes, she remembers she left the dog in the yard, the back door wide open, and hits the remote button a second time.
She maneuvers out of the drivers door, leaving the engine running and the doors unlocked and runs back through the garage into the house yelling "Buddy, come" and as her little puppy rushes through the door, she taps it shut with the index finger of her right hand, spins around, and trips on the edge of the Navajo rug.
."Shit, slow down" she says, collapsing on the couch to catch her breath.
©2010 Sharon J Corrigan
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