Wednesday, before the afternoon rain

I was remembering back when I lived in the Suburbs of Orlando, Florida in a place called Pine Hills. I was remembering the picture of my dad stretched out in my baby pool. This after I was remembering the mid-size pool my parents bought me for my backyard. It was a piece together liner pool. The liner had to be unfolded on the ground in the backyard. The frame of the pool had to be assembled. The liner had to be stretched out inside the frame. The ends of the liner placed inside the snap on part of the frame. The liner should be without any puncture marks or holes. We would test it by filling the pool with water from our garden hose. It usually held real good and I had hours of swimming in a pool.

This would be great entertainment for the local kids in the neighborhood. I would have pool parties. I also think on more than one occasion the pool was also filled with Mr. Bubble. Having Mr. Bubble in the pool added extra fun, because we got to swim through the soapy suds and that was a fun challenge. I was very popular with the kids in the neighborhood.

The downside of the pool was cleaning out the liner when it would turn green. The water would have to be drained out of the pool and lots of times the liner would have to be taken out, bleached and placed back in again so everything in the pool would look smooth. It was hard work and draining the water out was sloppy and wet. However, the task got done and the pool was restored to a superb condition.

When the pool finally did wear out. The pool was torn down and there would be a bare ring of dirt where the pool had covered for a length of time. It took a while for the grass to grow back. However, I had several pools some with ladder assemblies and some even with a water pump.

My best friend Karen, at the time moved off my street and I got to spend the night over her new house where she had a build in pool. She was the expert swimmer and she took to her pool like a duck to water. She was most popular until she moved away.

I now have an ocean down the road. I heard sharks kind of live there. I also go visit my sister who has a build in swimming pool. I would occasionally swim there in the shallow end. Swimming wasn't something I did often enough. I was an expert at dog paddling. My mom doesn't swim at all, because she had a bad experience as a youngster. However, her brother which is also my Uncle Perry use to be a lifeguard in Indiana. He would tell me a few stories about swimming in the lake in Indiana trying to impress his wife Vera. My Aunt Vera was always the pinnacle of greatness in my Uncle Perry's view. She was the prettiest, the smartest and nothing she did could ever be wrong. Thinking about it, my dad shared the same view about my mom. I guess this is what you would call an ideal marriage.