Food & Hygiene (#8)

Food - We generally eat whatever we can dig out of the frig, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. Most of what we throw in there disappears into a glacial abyss, then reemerges an undetermined number of days later, always a tad bit riper. Today I lost a mango but found a pound of sliced turkey I’d purchased around Labor Day. (It isn’t bad once you scrub the film off of it.) Yesterday, the Captain found a loaf of Cuban bread. The frig is only two  feet square and the loaf was over two feet long so how we got it in there, much less how we lost it for over a week shall remain a mystery. Hence, meals are haphazard. However, the combos can be interesting. Breakfast was coffee, saltines, a little turkey and discount peanut butter. (Are there supposed to be little hard black things in peanut butter?) Last night was chicken we had grilled back in our “all chicken diet” days combined with Uncle Ben’s and something we weren’t sure about but suspected came from Bravo Super Mercado; it wasn’t half bad. Eating onboard is like a stroll down memory lane.  All you need is the right music.
Hygiene - I like to believe that I’m practicing good personal hygiene, but I may be fooling myself. I haven’t done laundry in two weeks and have an empty dirty clothes bag. Whenever a rain squall hits, I put on what’s ripest and stand out on the bow. Perhaps sprinkling on a little Tide if it looks like a really good blow. I’ve given up on regular showers, the kind that involve soap and let the weather perform its magic. The combination of oil and sweat has produced an interesting layer over my body, sort of like a second skin. (Those of you unfortunates about to become homeless take note.) It’s a bit clammy and I’m not wild about the sickly orange glow, but it feels very protective. I’m convinced if I keep this up bullets will eventually bounce off of me. The Captain, on the other hand, is very fastidious and showers nightly. He even puts on after shave. Perhaps he’s still holding out hope for our BUD’s, who just bought a jeep. Otto and them have evidently made up as I just saw him riding in the back. Meanwhile we’re both celibate and continue to steer using dead reckoning.