Welcome, _______, to today’s Wait Lifters – Uplifting content for every kind of downtime. When people have a disease, they often say “I suffer from _____.” It’s a phrase I rejected decades ago when I defiantly displayed a plaque on my desk saying, “No one in our family ever suffered from insanity. We’ve always enjoyed it.” Well, maybe we don’t always enjoy the peculiarities of certain relatives, but we try to make the best of it. I am committed to “finding the funny” in every situation because laughter gives us momentary hope that we will survive whatever we’re facing.

But that said, not all conditions are inherently “afflictions.” Take AAADD – Age-Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. If you have ever started out a day to do one thing and by the end of the day found you have done a dozen other things, but not that thing, you have AAADD. My point is, enjoy it. This issue was going to celebrate American Artists Month. But then I discovered Swiss Cheese Baths.

I hope you find these offerings fun, and perhaps even useful, and welcome your feedback, including your topic suggestions and any other ideas you may have for making each issue better. (Kathy@WiserNow.com)

The Quirky Quote

I eat Swiss cheese from the inside out. ~ Steven Wright (Think about it.)

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The Quirky Facts

According to the nursery rhyme, “Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet, eating her curds and whey,” but most of us never questioned what that meant she was eating. It can be assumed that she was eating cheese, since cheese is made up of solid curds and liquid whey, although whey has often been a discarded byproduct. According to one article, whey is like a yellowy-green, sour, watery yogurt – definitely an acquired taste if you want to drink it. But you can bathe in it. In Switzerland. Hence Swiss Cheese Baths – not holey Swiss cheese.

The Atlas Obscura article that inspired this direction of my imagination was written by Oriana Pauli about her experience with what was once considered – and could be now again – a luxurious spa treatment. From the 1700s (perhaps even earlier) various “bathing cures” were popular treatments for nervous disorders, gynecological issues, skin rashes and other conditions, especially for the wealthy. Because Switzerland had the added advantage of offering a “change of air,” it became a popular destination, and by the 1870s, “guides listed more than 150 medicinal springs in Switzerland.” Certainly, it was a more welcome prescription than leeches and laxatives, and had the added advantage of leaving your skin soft and appealing.

But if you do not wish to step into the steaming hot and foamy whey bath and listen to distant (or very near) cow bells, there are many alternatives. (Photo credit here.)

All over the world, you can find mud baths with supposedly healing, skin-enhancing mineral content, as well as hot springs and mineral springs minus the mud. Or try other liquids. The website for the Japanese spa Hakone Kowakien Yunessun offers bathing in coffee (to combat fatigue) or your choice of wine, sake, or green tea, all said to have a multitude of health benefits in a relaxing atmosphere. Royals and celebrities have enhanced their baths for hundreds of years with various perfumes, spices, and other plant products. These days it’s possible to order a champagne bath at a fancy hotel, but makeup artist and YouTube star Michelle Phan recommends just putting a small amount of champagne on a cotton pad and wiping it across your face. She says, "Champagne is a favorite toner of mine for its detoxifying properties and its ability to fight free radicals," and promises such treatment will be "light, cool and refreshing." Much simpler than a trip to Switzerland.

The Quirky Observations

When I was a child, the only bathing health enhancement I was aware of was Epsom salts. These naturally occurring mineral salts are named for a town near London where they were supposedly discovered 400 years ago, and used most often – sometimes infused with a lavender scent – to relieve stress and muscle soreness. Since then, of course, the number of bath salts, drops, bubbles, bombs, and other products have boomed (pun intended). I have no favorites, because I prefer showers, but when she was a toddler, I enjoyed enhancing my granddaughter’s bath with a type of colored baking soda tablets that turned the water (but not her skin) blue, purple, or pink (Now there are hundreds of brands available). It’s said that Marie Antoinette scandalized her subjects by bathing daily. Imagine if she did so in purple water!

The Questions

• Do you prefer baths or showers? If baths, do you use enhancements such as lavender salts? Describe your favorite bathing setting (and scent).
• Do you have any favorite bath “toys”? (Rubber ducky? Glass of wine?)
• Have you ever been to a mineral springs, mud bath, or spa with unusual ways to treat your skin? Did you enjoy it? Did it work?

The Featured Product – My Webinars

This week I am leading an in-person, all-day workshop for SCAPA (South Carolina activity professionals) which I am very much looking forward to. They have asked me to speak on four of my many topics: Cultural Competency, Weather Wonders, Making Exercise Fun, and Good News. I’ve planned lots of interactive exercises and am bringing lots of fun props. If your group might be interested in something similar, or if you’d like to know more about my programs, send me a note at Kathy@WiserNow.com or laurenhue@msn.com. Also check out Wiser Now’s Visually Vibrant Exercises to get an idea of how my presentations use photography.

The Quiz – The Key Word Is

One of my favorite kinds of puzzles is called Key Word. Look at a series of words, each with a blank, and fill in the blanks to make a new word. The trick is that there are at least two possible letters to fill in each blank. For example, in the word C H __ C K, the missing vowel could be E, I, or U. I could have written a trivia quiz on cheese (I have actually done so) but that seemed too heavy for this issue. Instead the word that fits in the blanks below is something I strive for in every Wait Lifter issue. (The illustration has nothing to do with the words with missing letters. It just amuses me.)

Fill in the blanks to make a new word.

The Resources

I have embedded my resources this week, but I encourage you to click on them if you’d like to know more about Swiss Cheese Baths, because I left a lot of details out. And I didn’t dip more than a toe into all the other kinds of unusual bathing options. Humans are a peculiar lot.

Unless otherwise noted, photos have been purchased from iStock.

• And, as always, check out www.WiserNow.com.

Answers to the Quiz

The key word is WHIMSY.

© 2023 Kathy Laurenhue | www.wisernow.com | All rights reserved.