Pooling Our Resources

I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. When I was a boy, we lived in a rented house in a lovely neighborhood of families directly southeast of the elementary school, right behind the playing fields. Our neighbors had a pool with a slide, but I can recall using it just once. Mostly we did without any kind of private pool, and it will not surprise you that it grows rather hot during the summers of that city, and honestly remains warm most of the year. The dead of winter is a bit brisk, but lacking a pool of our own, we depended rather heavily on the public pool.

I can't think of any better way to know the people than to swim in the public pool. It was quite an experience. You first of all had to enter and pay. As a child, I was not party to that exchange. We then went through the locker rooms, changing and emerging into the sun-drenched pool area. There was the main pool, which was complete with a low dive and the vaunted high dive, and an adjacent kiddie pool, which lay by the concessions stand. I recall being fond of the candy, but seldom was granted funds to buy any. Having food also meant having to stay away from the pools.

Sweet Relief

A few days ago we had the hottest day Los Angeles has seen so far this summer. By the late afternoon, it was 98 degrees. Happily, this town cools off a bit better at night than my hometown of Phoenix does, but it was a very hot day. Luckily, I was more prepared to cope with it than I have previously been. I haven't really gone swimming in a very long time- longer than anyone would likely believe. The reasons will undoubtedly baffle you. One problem that hindered things was my difficulty in focusing on a single activity. You can't do many things at the same time as swimming. You can't be on the computer, or read terribly easily. I certainly wouldn't take a book out on an inflatable raft, even if it weren't a library book. You can listen to music, but I'm not inclined to bring a stereo down to the pool and start imposing it on my neighbors. Maybe I could do that, but that's not me. You can see why inability to focus on swimming might be a problem.

Another issue is that of the Sun's deadly rays. I burn very, very easily and so cannot spend a great deal of time exposed to direct sunlight without sunblock. Sunblock is a real problem for me. I feel I must get the strongest SPF rating I can, and prefer it to be impervious to water. Unfortunately, I have trouble applying it properly. There are always areas I don't hit, and they burn badly. Even the areas I cover well can burn, as one must reapply, and I don't stay on top of that very well. What can I do? I have to live, and so I must brave the danger anyway.