I was exhausted. I was up all night last night and had to get up again early this morning. I found myself downtown telling a girl I'd meet her for coffee and I haven't even the slightest idea why. I guess she asked me. I couldn't bring myself to take a nap because allthough I was exhausted, I was wound up with all the projects I'm working on. And then it hit me. It's time for a sento.

Just around the corner from my house is a great big brand new sento. If you don't know, it a Japanese public bath, and they're just about every ten blocks in Japan. They love being clean. I don't know why I wanted to do it at the time, but now I'm so grateful.

At first I was wandering around from the jet bath to the herbal bath to the freezing cold bath and back to the jet bath.. I was getting hotter and wound up thinking about all the stuff I needed to do and then it just...went away. I started to melt into the pool. All the tension just lifted and I just sat there in bliss.

I've just got back home and now I feel so relaxed and actualy a little energetic. It's amazing. This is a great alternative to tossing and turning in a bed worrying about when I'm going to wake up. No wonder there's a sento every ten blocks.