The witching hour is – of course – the hours between midnight and 2am, when it’s said that witches, demons and ghosts are most likely to appear.
My own witching hour is – naturally – quite different.
I instagrammed, tweeted and Facebooked this on Wednesday night.
Oh yes, naturally I thought others worthy of sharing my despondency. Also, I live alone so there’s no one to whinge to. So only… you know… people at the other end of the world wide web.
Which kinda brings me to my point.
My own witching hour(s) lies between 5 or 6pm (earlier now I don’t have a long commute home from work) to 7.30pm.
It’s the time of day I’m most tired (sleepy) and it’s the time of day I struggle with my alone-ness. (You may recall my aloneness vs loneliness post for the lovely Carla Birnberg.)
For others that time of day is a nightmare for other reasons. There’s kids’ dinners to be prepared and consumed. Adults’ dinners to be cooked. Kids to be bathed and put into bed and various chores undertaken at the same time.
That does sound horrible, but of course the flipside of that is someone to talk to at the end of the working day. Someone to bitch to about work stuff. Someone to sit and have a drink with and the occasional kiss and cuddle. (And I’m talking kids there… none of that R rated stuff you partnered and married types get up to.)
Instead of all of that I spend approximately 2hrs each night (ie. EVERY night) in the bath. Reading. Of course I enjoy reading and love my books, but it also helps disappear (using the word as a verb as we literary types like to!) the early evening for me.
At 7.30 I can get out of the bath, cook my dinner, watch 2-3hrs of taped TV and eat. Before going to bed.
When I worked evenings were my favourite time of day – the only time of day I enjoyed. I eked out my nights as long as possible, often not wanting to go to bed. Because that meant the next day was starting and I had a long day in the office ahead of me. A long day of being ‘on’ and at attention. Ten or so hours until I could again have my freedom.
It’s not quite as bad now that I don’t work full-time and am in a less-stressful job. Back then a therapist called my early evening baths my ‘transition’ time – between work and home. A time to shed the skin of my working day and ready myself for those hours of freedom.
Now they just help pass the time. More than a necessary evil, however, they offer a nourishment and comfort I struggle without.
Are you a bath person? Do you have a witching hour or time of day you find a struggle?
As it’s Friday I’m again flogging my blog With Some Grace.
May 6, 2016
I think if I had a bath like yours I could easily become a bath person.
May 6, 2016
Yes… IF my place sells and I move the bath (or ability to renovate and install one) will be a big consideration!
May 6, 2016
Definitely a bath person. Love shoving in a bath bomb and reading a book. I only get to do it once a week now but it’s my Sunday night tradition.
May 6, 2016
Oh lovely! I love bath bombs and other smelly things as well!
May 6, 2016
I need to really be in the mood for a bath and that usually entails being cold. Once in, I love it but it can take a bit to get me in there. #FYBF
May 6, 2016
Oh no!!! I love everything about baths… probably also the buoyancy and fact I don’t feel as fat in there! 🙂
May 6, 2016
I hardly ever have a bath even though we have a spa bath in our ensuite. It takes a lot of water to fill – not sure I’d like your water bills. You must end up with that wrinkly skin too, although I imagine it would be nice and moisturised. I only have a witching hour some nights – others I’m teaching/practising yoga and generally running around after kids activities, although I definitely have a witching wine or two often.
May 6, 2016
I used to be worse and fill my bath a number of times while I was reading but don’t do that now. When I had a larger place I told myself I saved water in other ways – limited washing, never washed my car or watered my lawn etc… but that’s probably laziness as much as anything!
May 6, 2016
Great post Deb… What a lovely way to combat the alone time
May 7, 2016
Thanks Cassie. I agree!
May 6, 2016
I think if I had a bath like yours, I’d always be in it. I do like a bath after a long run, but I have a really short bath attention span and no sooner I am in, than I like to get out. Besides, I don’t like to get my books wet!
May 7, 2016
Ah yes… my books do reflect evidence of the occasional splash. I also read with my iPad, though it’s got a waterproof cover!
May 7, 2016
I don’t like the same time as you but for different reasons. I’ve just finished work and there’s the daily obligation to get the dinner ready when all I want to do is unwind and relax. I resent it enormously some days. Especially when I’m tired. I’d be happy to have cereal for dinner for the rest of my life to avoid it.
May 7, 2016
Ha! Oh no Char, dinner is a big deal for me… occasionally I’ll reheat something or put something on before I head to the bath, but getting dinner ready after I’m out of the bath is another part of my nightly ritual. *sigh*
May 7, 2016
I like the shedding of skin idea. My witching hour when my five kids were little was bath and dinner time. Those days are long gone but sometimes I wish I could have them back again. Five little freshly washed bodies in their pajamas playing with their toys together. Those were the days. I thought it was stressful at the time but now I wish I’d just enjoyed it more.
May 7, 2016
Five…? wow Michelle!
May 8, 2016
If I had that bath I would never be out of it!
May 8, 2016
Ah yes, it’s great, though I don’t mind long baths (in length not time!!!!) either. I don’t really use the spa often / much, it’s just the floating in water I enjoy!
May 9, 2016
My comment disappeared! When I was single, I loved my bath time (I still do). It was a great time killer, you’re right and I always felt great about myself afterwards. These days, the rare times I do have a bath, there’s a time limit and always a purpose – scrub off all that dead skin!
May 9, 2016
Ah yes… I have to admit I often spend so long in there I need to remind myself to actually wash / scrub before getting out! (Forgetting the entire – usual – purpose of a bath!)
May 9, 2016
I adore baths (even though I just have an ordinary tub). I have an external speaker, so I can “read” audiobooks while in the tub. I love to put on a small mood light and lean back in the near dark to listen. And I also have the perfect sized plastic bag for my Kindle.
I once passed on the chance to buy a small house on the water for a good price, because it only had a shower and I was advised that it would be VERY difficult to expand the size of the bathroom to fit a tub.
For me the most difficult time of the day is the first hour after I get up. I stumble around with barely a thought in my head no matter how much sleep I got.
May 10, 2016
Ugh! I hate mornings too – though bizarrely I usually work well first thing. I just hate getting out of bed and seem to be tired no matter what.
I have a LifeProof (waterproof) cover for my iPad which is great. It allows you to use it underwater if you wanted. I figure that’s a bit extreme. Of course I’m probably drop my phone in there (again) as I’ve got no case for that!
May 10, 2016
When I went on vacation, I got a waterproof cover for my ipod so I could listen in the hot tub. It was mostly to keep it from getting splashed though, since I didn’t think it would like the high temperature much.
May 10, 2016
When I bought the Lifeproof cover for my iPad there was a special which included a little inflatable jacket (like a life jacket). In the video ad they showed someone out on the ocean and dropping their phone in the water… and thanks to the life jacket it floated to the surface and they could find it.
I thought it unlikely I’d not be able to locate the iPad in the bottom of my bathtub and I’d need it to float to the top! 🙂
May 10, 2016
LOL