Eucalyptus brooms

I did indeed start the shoot with a nice long stay in the Finnish Baths (which I will no longer hesitate to say is my go-to spot for heat. $10? Can't be beat! Especially considering that the Century Spa is now up to $25, and that City Spa seems to be down to $25...more on this in a second).

And indeed, after wrapping the shoot, I planned an excursion to City Spa, where I and fellow sweatsmen Chris Hansen enjoyed a few good, long hours in the best heat in town. Man! They are not kidding around in there. What a good heat!

Could I resist buying a new shopka? No, I couldn't. (Picture to follow.)

Was I shocked and amazed that the entry price at 4pm was $25? Yes. I was. It's been my understanding that at the City Spa, after 1pm, you pay $35. But we were both asked if we'd been there before (we had), though I thought this had something to do with the waiver they make you sign. Who knows? All I know is that when we left, it was $25, and I was happy.

But, here's the new thing: I've been making brooms (or whisks) out of eucalyptus leaves for a little while now, and the results are...interesting. I bought an oak broom when I was in Chicago and after that I thought, "Hell, I can make something like this." And why not use eucalyptus? It's my favorite tree, it's abundant, and the medicinal properties of its oils are well understood and appreciated.

For the broom, I've tried a couple different types of eucalyptus leaves. I first tried the "silver dollar" leaves. We have one of those trees growing in our yard. I cut some small branches and made a couple nice thick brooms and took them to the City Spa on my last visit.

Learned my most important lesson very quickly:

Use fresh.

When you buy a broom, it comes dried out and in a weird netting thing to keep the leaves from falling off. When I'd talked to some guys at the Division Street baths about it those many years ago, they claimed there was a curing process that needed to happen to a broom. Turns out, they were wrong. After rehydrating my broom in hot water (as only makes sense), it became very clear that I would have been better off using fresh leaves. This has been reinforced by internet searches. Use fresh.

But I get the things rehydrated and I'm giving myself a whip or two and as I'm bringing the super-heated leaves down from the sauna ceiling on to my skin, I find that they're sticking. And that it hurts when they stick.

A week or so later I go to the Finnish Baths and with me I take a few fresh branches from the tree. The fewer leaves and the softer heat made for less sticking, but it was still a factor.

On top of this, the long thin branches made the brooms more like a cat-o-nine-tails. They had a little too much give, a little too much play, as it were. The oak broom I used was much fuller and shorter and acted more like a large, loose loofa than a torture device.

So yesterday, I tried using the other kind of eucalyptus leaves -- the longer, thinner ones. I like these because they have a stronger euc smell and I figured they'd be less sticky on the back.

It was better. Much better. But there was still more sticking than I would have liked. But in the end, I felt great. Almost like I'd gotten a massage. Shoulders, legs, chest, all the places I beat on were radiating heat and relaxation long after the heat.

All said and done, the broom I got in Chicago is still the best. I think the size of the leaves and the thickness of the broom made all the difference.

So I'm off to find as many oak trees with low-hanging branches as I can. We have more black walnut trees in my neighborhood, but there's got to be some oaks somewhere I can get to...