- I was born in San Diego, CA. I think sun and water were just automatically incorporated into my DNA. I’ve always enjoyed summer, swimming, and even just laying in the sun and feelings its warmth on my skin. When we left the beach life of California, and moved to Mississippi, I held on to my love of warm weather activities. We ended up living across the street from a man made lake. My parents even had a boat at one time, and I used to love making circles of the lake, at high speeds, while the sun reflected off the water and lent me its warmth. My Mom loved it too, and begged my Daddy for a pool. Rather than buying an above ground pool, my Dad did his own thing. On off days, and even after work, he would go out with his shovel and dig. My Dad said he was building us a cement pond, and that he did. It was more than that though. It was indeed a below ground pool of his own making. After he had the squared out hole dug (he said he learned that in the Army), he built a frame and poured cement. He sealed it, painted it blue, and even installed an underground filtration system that poured the clean water out of a waterfall of his creation. It was marvelous. My Mom’s only critique was that he build a fence around it for her babies’ safety.
- With every house I’ve had since I left my parents’ home, I’ve figured out a way to get wet. Even in Maryland where the summers were milder, I would at least buy a little wading pool and lawn chair. When I moved back to Mississippi, I was super excited over the large pool my folks had put out back. I could get a float and a good novel, and stay out there all day. Last year I bought another little wading pool for Chloe, but as the summer wore on, and I got more and more pregnant, it just seemed miserable. I couldn’t even manage the energy to keep the 6 inches of water clean, and Ben didn’t want me lifting it to dump the water. I remember when the summer came to an end, I was so sad for the time I imagined I could have enjoyed out there. I was momentary disillusioned.
- This year I excitedly bought a bit of a larger pool. It’s still small. I’ve got small kids and an even smaller budget, so it has to be. But I was still excited for my plan of a summer paradise in the back yard. I don’t see a vacation happening for us this summer, so a stay-cation sounded like a plan. The thing is, lounging out by the pool takes on a completely different life when you have kids. You can no longer just lay out soaking up rays. Fat chance. Even if by some small chance you are able to have a seat in your lounge chair, you will immediately have a little, wet, cold person in your lap. And strike one for this Mom. Chloe thought the pool was too big. So despite two sets of arm floaties and three float rings, she insists “Mommy swim with me.” This doesn’t mean I can leisurely enjoy the water, floating about with joy. No. This means constantly lifting, swinging around, or holding 30 lbs. Thankfully, it’s much lighter in the water. Thing is, even though the outdoor summer fun is nothing like it was before kids, I’m having a blast. When we’re swimming around in circles pretending we’re mermaids, I’m reminded of my own childhood. When I held both of my babies, wet, in my warm lap, and soothed them as they fell asleep; I felt pure contentment. The breeze blew in and ruffled our hair as the warm sun dried us, and I thought, “Yes. This is indeed summer.”
That is all 🙂