I love looking
at old photos people post on Facebook—they remind me of warm and
funny memories from my own experience. A different warm memory
occurred in our sauna last week—the electric light burned out. I’ve
gotten so used to simply using the on-off switch that I forgot
what a ‘no-light’ sauna was like. Fortunately it didn’t happen while
we were inside.
The fix was more complicated and took
much longer than expected, so for a couple of weeks we took saunas by
candlelight (metal flashlights get hot).
It was a reminder of my own ‘olden
days.’ The sauna on the beach had no windows, so we’d bring a
lantern. Even so, it was very dark inside the sauna chamber. I
learned to move slower, let my eyes adjust, steer clear of the stove
and climb quickly to the upper bench. The soap or buckets were placed
in the same places—easy to find in the inky dark.
In our no-light sauna, sauna
preparations took much longer—bucket and dipper here, towels and
drinking water there, where we could find them by feel. Remember to
open the air vent. How long would our votive candles last? Where
should they be placed? When I dropped something, it stayed there
until the next day. Even walking to our patio for cool-down was
trickier, finding my slip-ons against the dark floor, the door handle
not where my hand reached.
After much struggle, Bill, my hero, got
the old bulb removed and replaced the socket. Last night—I flipped
the switch and voila, there was light! Remembering saunas in the dark
was useful, but thank you electricity!
Nikki
