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When I think of Summer, I see heat rising from the pavement and perspiration dripping down foreheads. The Lovin' Spoonful's, "Hot town, summer in the city, back of my neck feeling dirt and gritty," rings in my ears. I also smell suntan lotion, feel the sun warm on my face, and hear waves crashing against the beach.
And then my fantasy ends and I'm sitting in a home nowhere near the ocean or even a beach.
Because my kids (when they were younger) and I seldom got a chance to visit a beach, pools were always the next best thing for us. But going back even further to my own childhood, I remember family vacations when we drove to various states around the country and spent nights together in a motel. The only prerequisite, no matter where we slept, was that our motel had to have a pool.
We would arrive at the motel, slide into our swim suits, and race for the pool. Swimsuits on, Cindy and I would jump into the pool while Kathy sat with her feet dangling over the edge (Kathy was afraid of the water). For some reason, we were usually the only family in those pools, and we still reminisce about the luxury of having those pools all to ourselves so many times.
When my own kids were younger, I had been hunting for a home that would accommodate all of us. One in particular seemed to have my name written all over it. The entire back yard was a built-in swimming pool – what fun! – with no grass to mow! But the rooms inside the home were microscopically small and had a lot of problems, so I didn't buy it.
My own pool purchases throughout the years, including my daycare years, consisted of tiny wading pools (for me), but big enough so the kids could splash around. If I could have, I would have had a large pool for myself (I mean, the kids) – one that was clean – chlorine clean. And that's another smell that reminds me of summer – chlorine.
What makes summer tolerable for people who don't particularly care to sweat all day (like me) is water – lake water, ocean water, or pool water. Now I'm daydreaming about having my own pool. I just checked out some beautiful in-ground liners at Doheny and discovered some really inexpensive chlorine tabs. All I have to do now is purchase a pool!
