Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

I have given cattitude his birthday present, slightly belatedly. This was partly a matter of thinking of something, and partly of finding it once thought of. (I resorted to his Amazon wishlist, but had to try two different bookstores--I wanted to get it and hand it to him, not have it mailed).

Also, I now know a massage therapist I like who is on this coast. Of course, when I said that was what I wanted I actually meant I'd like one in New York.

Last weekend adrian_turtle and I went to a place in Cambridge (Mass.) called Inman Oasis* (previously Urban Oasis). They rent hot tub time, in private rooms for 2-4 people (or access to a communal tub, which is among other things suited for people who show up alone). They also have massage therapists on staff. We soaked for 3/4 of an hour: soak for 8-10 minutes, get out, take a quick cooling shower (each hot tub room has its own shower), repeat. We declined the offer of music for our room, and mostly sat quietly and enjoyed the hot water, talking a little, and holding hands from time to time. In the end we were both thoroughly, happily done soaking slightly before the end of our scheduled time.

Then Adrian sat in the waiting area and read, and I had a half hour massage, with a therapist named Jeff. I'd hurt my thigh somehow on the trip up to Arlington, and I thought massage would help. The therapist started by inspecting to make sure it wasn't visibly bruised--he said that if it was, he wouldn't touch it. Then he rubbed it in various ways, and lifted it up from the table and asked me both to drop the weight on it, and to press down against his hands. We did fifteen or twenty minutes of that, and then filled out the half hour with general relaxation stuff of shoulders and back.

He left me to get dressed, with the reminder to "take it easy," which I started to ignore, until I had to catch myself after standing up. I sat and rebalanced, put my clothes on, then found him and asked if he was allowed to accept tips, and gave him an extra $10. The leg felt a lot better for the hot soak and the massage, but started to hurt again as we walked to a nearby restaurant for an early dinner--including big bowls of matzo ball soup, which is both of our ideas of comfort food. It didn't get as bad again as it had pre-massage, though, and recovered over the following few days (with the help of rest and ibuprofen).

*I just went to check the URL, and see that they're having an open house this Sunday (11/11) from noon until 5, with free soaks and discounts on gift certificates and chair massages.