Swimmingly

I grew up on the water. Literally. Walked right out our door to the Snake River winding by. 

When I was four we moved to a town in N. Idaho. 

It was hot there. 

Hundred-Teens in the summer. 

Still very close to the Snake River. Made it there nearly every summer weekend. I was a very tan kid, after I laid down my blistery base burn. (It was a different time.)

Multiple neighbors had pools. We were surrounded. I took swimming lessons a few blocks from our house.

We also hung at the public pool pretty frequently. Where this cool dude named, Brody, (or maybe Bodie?) would do flips off the high dive. All while we stared in awe eating our Firecracker Popsicles. 

I have so many questions now that I am an adult. Was his name really Brody? What ever happened to him? Who was covering the insurance at a public pool with a high dive? 

We had a HydroTube too. I hated it there. After I almost drowned multiple times. I don't think that was rare. Likely why you don't see any HydroTubes today. 

And then, one of my moms best friends, put in a pool. I was maybe six. I vividly remember sitting on their deck, head against the spindles, legs swinging below me, watching every step. My love of three things combined. Construction, projects and water. 

We spent a lot of afternoons over there. Hawaiian Tropic, Chlorine. It's where I learned how delicious light beer and Oreos is. Trust me. It's delicious. Bigger than that, I knew I wanted one of those. 

A pool.

One of many reasons I really wanted to buy our home, later named, Stella Mae, was the size of the yard. Enough room for a pool. A good number of people thought I was crazy. A pool in Oregon? It's not that hot. It's plenty warm. And, it's not like the earth is getting colder... 

2020 was the year. Then it wasn't. We couldn't get drawings done, offices were closed. We would not be swimming in 2020. In October we finally got our drawings, approved the bid and Griswald style, I put my bonus down as the deposit. 

Today I cannonball’d into our pool. More than once. 

It’s not officially finished. The lights aren’t hooked up, I can’t close the cover, there’s no heat. But, the chemicals are balanced. The salt is perfect and the robot is busy vacuuming. 

It’s oddly warm in the Pacific Northwest and a perfect day to practice my under water handstands and somersaults.

After 39 years, the pool is open.