Friday, January 05, 2007

Sensual pleasures

(That's sensual as in definitions 1 and 2c. As Mrs. Wormer explained to Otter in Animal House, "Vegetables are sensual. People are sensuous." So this blog post here isn't about that sensuous business. Too, too obvious.)

After I took off my super-plush socks this evening, my thoughts turned to those sensual/sensory experiences that just feel so good, those mundane little moments that make body and soul rejoice:

• You're hot and uncomfortable, and you reach down and pull off your socks, freeing your toes and soles from their stifling incarceration.

• That first big stre-e-e-etch in the morning, when you sprawl your limbs beyond the full length of the mattress.

• After you raise the glass to your lips and inhale the heavenly citrusy aroma of fresh-squeezed orange juice, you take your first sip and let the juicy pulp bits party in your mouth before swallowing.

• You step under the shower spray, and in a few seconds your hair gets so saturated with water that you can't help but let the weight pull your head back (making you look like someone in one of those ridiculous Herbal Essences ads, but without all the hoopla).

• You've been trying to get just a few more things accomplished before you take a bathroom break (so efficient are you!), your bladder growing more distended by the minute, and you finally sit down and pee. Aahhhhh. A sense of well-being pervades your core.

• You're thirsty, your mouth feels absolutely parched, and that first sip of cold water slides down your throat, slaking your body's craving.

• A good washcloth scrubbing of your lower back, preferably administered by someone other than you.

• When you finally dislodge that dried-up booger that's been clinging inside your nostril, and can breathe freely without boogeral encumbrance.

What sensory moments make you happy?

17 comments:

Jeff Janusch said...

Thank you for not saying "hot towels from the dryer", which is listed in one of those stupid Fw:fw:fw:Fwd:fw:fwd: e-mails I get every week.

I suppose there's nothing like relieving the uncomfortable feeling of being thirsty with a full bladder.

Orange said...

How about hot pajama pants from the dryer when you've just come in from bitter cold or soaking rain? That one's good...about once a year.

Anonymous said...

That first bite of a really good breakfast sandwich. After you've manipulated your grip so you get a mouthful of melty cheese and fried egg. Directly after is a slightly less happy moment, the one when your hands are covered in egg. But the bite was worth it. Speaking of which, I'm hungry.

Krupskaya said...

Our bathroom isn't insulated, so one gets very cold before hopping in the hot shower. The feeling of that hot water sparking on cold skin gives a delicious shiver, and prompted my son to call that water temp "shivery hot." Brrr...mmmm!

Anonymous said...

Stepping into the shower when the stall is all full of steam. Mmm.

Taking off a tight, uncomfortable bra.

Standing up after a long plane flight.

And those lovely fuzzy socks you started with...mmm. My Secret Santa at work gave me six pair. mmm.

Jenni

DoctorMama said...

I'm glad to hear that you've come around on the euphuria thing. Because on Friday, November 11, 2005, when I posted, "You know how when you have to pee for a really long time but don't, and then finally you go, and for about a half hour after you go your bladder feels all happy to be empty? It's more than relief. There should be a word for that happy-empty-bladder-feeling," you replied, "Dude, I don't know what you're talking about. Must be a health-care worker bladder thang."

(What's the point of keeping a record if you can't dredge up ancient history, right?)

I would add: sliding under clean sheets. Though this may only be shared by those who also share my lax housekeeping habits.

Anonymous said...

I'm with everyone who mentioned absolutely anything about a shower.

Much less common an experience, the feeling the first time you scuba dive and you finally get your ear pressure equalized and stretch out through thhe water and realize you are wet and looking at fishies and coral and are BREATHING. Have only done this twice in my life, but it was ecstatic!

Emerging wet from swimming and plunking down onto a towel on the warm sand and feeling the hot sun dry each lingering droplet of water on your skin.

Mignon said...

How about when your rambunctious busy child is having a meltdown, so to avoid pushing him in front of moving bus, you pick him up, he struggles briefly, and then, slowley, he rests his head in the crook of your neck and goes limp in your arms, completely and totally relaxed. I like that.

Mignon said...

Sorry, typos-R-us around here lately...

Anonymous said...

Friday nights, after a long, stressful week, all tired to the bone, slipping naked into [clean] sheets, one leg over the husband's leg, and my head finding that perfect space between his head and his shoulders. Relax. Breathe out. Truly and utterly bliss.

Anonymous said...

After a massage, being enveloped in hot, billowy steam, the smell of eucalyptus being inhaled in your nose, instantly shrinking your sinuses and you feel like 25 pounds (of the week's b.s.) has lifted off your face.

Narya said...

Flannel sheets, especially when the air outside them is sufficiently cold.

Holding someone's hand.

A good back scratch, right at that spot you can't reach.

A Perfect Bite, of just about any meal.

Exercise, yoga, just about any movement that gets the blood flowing.

I'm going to go ahead and say that sex can also be a sensual pleasure, especially the lingering, no-hurry, kind.

Narya said...

kstyle had a similar post up yesterday (and a couple of Twisty-related posts, for that matter).

kStyle said...

That first whiff of tea when you bring the cup to your lips

cat curled up on your legs

cool breeze on a hot day

kStyle said...

And let's not forget applying lotion to dry, chapped skin. Aaah, the cool relief!

Delia Christina said...

that silky/slippery feeling on my legs after i shave them and put on a pair of my softest egyptian cotton 'relax at home' pants.

Anonymous said...

slipping between the sheets at night has got to rank right up there.

And attempting to memorize the features of my grandson's face while he sleeps.
He grows and changes way too quickly!