Pools

Having a pool is a pain in the posterior. Sure, you may love to swim, but the daily chemicals check, the weekly vacuuming, the semi-annual opening and closing -- PAIN (yes, in all caps)!

We have had a pool for the past 13 years. It came with the house we bought. My wife wasn't particularly excited about having a pool, but, like I said, it came with the house, which we both loved. The prior owner of the house was kind enough to give me a briefing on pool care, and over the next couple years I pretty much got the care and feeding of the pool in hand. Yeah, it was a pain, but one that was (a) bearable, and (b) offset by the fun  we (and the kids and grandkids and the neighbors) had using it.

Then in 2004 I became disabled, as in no longer able to care for the pool. I tried teaching my wife and children (all adults), but frankly, in my mind the pool was becoming a liability. I would occasionally talk of filling it in with dirt and planting a garden (something I'm also unable to do, by the way).

This past summer my wife had a pacemaker implanted and it was no fun getting the pool closed for the winter. This spring we didn't open the pool, which we usually had open by Memorial Day.  As the 4th of July came and went with no sign of us getting the pool opened, my eldest daughter (probably due to the clamoring of her children aged 11 and 15) volunteered to pay to have the pool opened. So we took her up on her offer and at the appointed time two young men came and opened the pool. Amazingly, it was swimmable that afternoon. No surprise either that the grandkids have been water-logged for the past week.

Yesterday, I was sitting on the deck watching Pooh (age 5) wade in the shallow end of the pool. "Grandpa," she turned around and said."

"Yes, sweetie."

"I love the pool."

I guess that's reason enough to keep it.