This afternoon I went to the schvitz. Not the authentic east end steam bath but the steam room at my local gym - all glass and steel. It has been my habit for many years to steam on a Saturday. Today it was very hot - you could have cooked gifilte fish in that steam! My own Zayde had always gone to a schvitz in the east end near Brick Lane. It was only near the end of his life that he took regular baths at home. He was the cleanest man I ever knew. He had a shock of pure white hair, bright like early snow and pink skin that positively glowed. He was around until just after my Bahmitzvah - he spoke very little english and had a strange dialect that mixed Yiddish and Litvak that not even my father (his son) actually understood. So in zayde tradition I go to the schvitz.
Tommorrow when I see my little newbie darling she will be cuddled by a steam-fresh zayde and she will probably smell of baby and talc - a winning combination!
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