Just Musing: A Palace production and an unexpected hygiene lesson
The annual summer musical “The Little Mermaid” is underway this weekend at the beautiful and historic Marion Palace Theatre. There is a matinee at 2 p.m. today (Sunday) and performances again at 7:30 p.m. July 19 and 20 and 2 p.m. July 21. The cast is composed entirely of local talent, and believe me you will think you are in New York City watching a Broadway show.
I plan to be in attendance this afternoon. Director Clare Cooke has fine tuned the production this past week and the cast is ready to show off their best talent. Marion is so fortunate to have the beautiful Palace and a plethora of folks in the area ready to showcase their talent.
On another note, I was watching ? I should say listening ? to a talk show ("Good Morning America") one morning last week when a guest “expert” talked about hygiene. I was flabbergasted when she asked the hosts what they used when taking a shower ? a washcloth or puff? The three hosts answered they used one or both with their morning showers. What blew me over was when she said both were wrong ? that one should use their hands to apply the soap or body gel to wash their body.
Washcloth or puff - neither is best choice
She went on to explain neither the washcloth or puff would be free of germs or bacteria. I listened further as she explained that washcloths lie in the linen closet until you use them and could be exposed to all types of bacteria, and the puff should be sterilized and completely dried between uses. I would think drying washcloths and towels in the dryer would generate enough heat to kill germs, but what do I know? She also noted towels and washcloths should go immediately to the washer and not be hung on a towel rack to dry.
Wow. I’ve been doing all this wrong for many years. Growing up, we used the same towel and washcloth all week. That changed as my children were growing up. They each used a clean towel or two every day. I had a load of towels to wash every day. Now that there is just myself, I have a rotating system moving the just-used towel to the top rack and rotating for four days, then washing them all and either putting them back or putting out fresh ones from the linen closet.
All I can say is this dumb blonde will continue her bathing habits praying the dryer takes care of the bacteria. I’ve found retirement gives me too much time listening to talk shows to learn all the things I have done lifelong were not right.
Have you driven to Columbus recently ? What a traffic mess there right now with many main roads and ramps either closed or down to one lane. Talk about a nightmare. Thankful to have Waze on my phone to navigate around the closures.
Hurricane Beryl, another fair in the books
As I write this on Wednesday morning, Central Ohio felt the remnants of the hurricane Beryl that wreaked havoc in Houston, Texas, and other points as it moved inland. The rains began about 12:30 this morning where I live with a brief downpour, thunder and wind.
As if that wasn’t enough, another round of storms came through about 3 a.m. with even more ferocity than the first one with the thunder sounding like fireworks going off or a 21-gun salute by the military. Needless to say, I had very little sleep, but I am safe and no property loss, so I would say I’m blessed.
The Marion County Fair is over. Let me offer congratulations to all young people who participated. I know they put a lot of time and tears into their projects. I would give them all blue ribbons. You are all winners in my eyes.
Let me leave you with this quotation by Robert Louis Stevenson: “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”
Until next week, be safe and be kind.
Brenda Donegan is a former Marion Star staffer. She may be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Marion Palace Theatre goes under the sea and a bathing hygiene lesson