No More Wine Barrel Cheap Hot Tub, so Throw Away Your Tie-dyed T-shirts

I survived the 70s, with the group hot tub and spa parties, sometimes under the open sky at nights, where the stars, indeed, did shine like a million fireworks going off at the same time. Neil Diamond played on the cassette player and everyone felt free enough to talk about anything that came to mind. In those days, a group of friends might drag up an old half of a wine barrel (I’m talking about the huge ones here), give it a good sanding and stain it cherry red, like Neil was singing on the cassette player – Cherry, Cherry and Red, Red Wine were two of my favorites, along with Sweet Caroline. I’m a Neil Diamond nut from way back.

Anyway… the old hot tub made from a wine barrel half (or a bit more) would last quite a long time, but if it weathered out a lot, the splinters got to be pretty bad. There tended to be a few more ouches from rough spots, than oohs and ahs from the warm water. A few steps cut from a railroad tie would lead up to the side but sometimes it was a bit of a steep drop into the bottom of the barrel, and when several friends jammed in there, the tub might overflow.

After soaking for a few hours and when your feet and hands looked like prunes, friends would get out, towel off, tie their hair back up (men and women) and put on their tie dyed T-shirt for the trek back over to someone’s house. There, the wine and good conversation would continue, and if we were lucky enough, we could lean back on the sofa placed by a large window and look down at the California hillside in the moonlight. Everyone would look at the moon, thinking about men now walking around up there.

Cheap hot tub parties may be gone, but the feelings continue. Have you seen the hot tub and spa varieties that are around now? And their use has morphed into a huge industry. No longer relegated to a gazebo in the backyard, spa tubs are part of every modern bathroom and renovation, whether it’s a moderate sized house, or a mansion. Corner spa tubs save space and look good in a smaller bathroom. Many materials and colors are used in spas and hot tubs these days, but I still see a lot of cedar hot tubs. The hot tubs are usually made from fiberglass for durability, but the surrounds and the gazebo (cedar or redwood is used a lot) make me think back to those old cheap hot tub parties and the fun we all had.

I saw a very small portable hot tub the other day, it looked like gray granite but was made from molded fiberglass. That one was just the right size for a single person or a couple. It was the smallest one I saw but I’ve seen ones with ledges and seats and enough room for around twelve people. Sometimes the fiberglass has been colored with shades of blue or green to simulate waves. I also saw one with inlaid mosaic tile around the sides and that reminded me of ancient Rome or the Etruscans.

If you can imagine any kind of setting, you can pretty much find the kind of hot tub you are looking for. I’ve found myself on a cold evening, curled up on an old but comfortable chair, with the cat on my lap, and cruising the Internet and looking at hot tubs. It makes me smile, because I’m thinking of Neil and a glass of red wine and the men on the moon, and the mood it creates is of simpler and easier times.

If we can work at recreating some of those times, perhaps all of us will learn to relax a little more, take a load off, put a Neil Diamond CD on the player, and maybe, just maybe, go outside under the stars afterwards, slip into the hot tub, and look up at the moon and stars. It couldn’t hurt. And it might just help.