The middle of the field is hollowed out, and white steam rises slowly from the water pooled inside it. The rim of the pool is wet with gray-white mud, and the grass ringing the edge holds moisture and runs a deep green. Behind the frame, three or four more columns of steam rise and scatter in front of a birch forest.
The sky is covered with pale gray clouds, and low sunlight rests only on the ridge to the right. Between midday and evening, the hour when the colors begin to settle.
Seeing a scene like this, the body responds first. You have not even entered the water yet, and your shoulders drop a little. It is because that first moment when hot water touches the skin, the sensation of drawing a breath in and letting it out long, comes up from memory. The soles of the feet feel for the bottom in advance, and the eyes lose their focus at the point where the steam scatters.
Someone whose body has been stiff notices only after entering the hot water how much force they had been applying. That a full day's tension had remained in the jaw and the shoulders just as it was.
It is worth spending just three minutes in the bathtub or under the shower this evening. Set the water as hot as you can bear, and let the shoulders rest completely in the water. Do not try to hold the neck upright, and let the back of the neck lie on the water. When the force that had been gripping the shoulders lets go, the water level rises a little.
You can carry the same sensation under the blanket before falling asleep. Lower your shoulders toward the bottom of the pillow, and watch whether the distance between your ear and your shoulder opens to about two finger joints. All you need to do is see how long that distance holds.
The steam from the pool keeps rising whether anyone watches or not, and the grass deepens on its own with that moisture.
