Most people we know here have a hot tub in their backyard. When we first came to California, it didn't make sense to me that Californians would have hot tubs and Bostonians didn't. It gets so much colder in New England; how come we didn't know anyone with a hot tub in the backyard? I still don't have my question answered. And I never cared to own a hot tub myself.
Until a few years ago, our friend Randy invited us up for an outdoor hot tub experience in Boulder Creek where he was living at that time. It was no ordinary hot tub. It was a cast iron 6 foot long old-fashioned tub that sat on a hand-made (by Randy) redwood platform in his frontyard. Along with the tub was a clever water-heating system consisting of a wood fired stove and a hose that ended up in the tub. Somehow Randy was able to heat up regular water by leading it through this clever system. That night, Jim and I got to experience what it was like to lay in a 'hot tub' as we starred at the stars beyond the redwood forests. It sounds idyllic, doesn't it? Well, it was! Randy even had candles lighting up the path that led to this oasis. In the dark, it felt very private, very peaceful, very Californian.
Lucky for us, when Randy decided to move to Vermont to be with Amy, he couldn't take his 300 pounds worth of cast iron tub with him. So he gave it to us as a gift. And what a gift it was! We now bathe our children in this very tub. It sits outside on our patio, next to a bamboo plant. The set up is no where near what Randy had done for it up in the Redwoods, but the joy that the tub still provides is priceless. Especially on a late November day!
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