Forget about loving the smell of napalm in the morning. I’ll take the sweet smell of Banana Boat SPF 30 sunscreen every time. Yes, this past Saturday Elmhurst’s East End Pool opened for the first time in over 21 months. Man, I knew I missed the water but didn’t know I missed it THAT much!
Lots of families with their young children were on hand and every person I swam by had a big smile on their face. There were plenty of comments from folks saying how much they missed pool time and how thrilled they were that things were fully opened after the dry summer of 2020.
On Saturday I didn’t see any fellow pool regulars, (my summer family) but they often skip that day since there is no hourlong adult swim. The one downer is for this year the adult swim is only set for Mondays thru Fridays, no Sunday adult swim sessions. Personally, I don’t care if a thousand members of the Mickey Mouse club show up to swim, I plan to spend as much time in the water as possible.
Saturday was a sunny humid ninety-degree day and the cool chlorine waters of the public pool were just the antidote we pandemic stifled people needed. I didn’t go super crazy, staying in the drink for an hour and a half before heading to Mc Donald’s for a large frozen pink lemonade Slushie.
Sitting at home after my dip, I could feel a slight glow on my face and shoulders which means while protected with the sunscreen, I’m still getting some tanning color. By mid-July I’ll be brown as a berry.
Later Saturday afternoon I went to Sport Clips and got my annual summer buzz hair-cut. My regular stylist Britany did the cutting and it was nice seeing her for the first time in about a year. Britany had been homebound during the pandemic taking care of her two young children while her husband worked his full time job. I was going to wait until summer school ended to get my buzz cut but the weather is just too hot and sticky and I needed to get my long locks trimmed down.
On Sunday I ran into a couple of the East End regulars and the first thing they asked was how my year of teaching during the pandemic went. I politely gave them the shortened version of what a challenge that deal was for students and staff. We all agreed that the important thing was we’re all still alive and back in the pool.
The rest of my time was spent taking some leisurely laps and remembering my swim strokes’ mantra. “Pick an apple, put it in your pocket, pick an apple, put it in your pocket, pick an apple, put it in your pocket.” It’s a huge relief to see everyone in their swim wear. Board shorts, gym shorts, one piece swimsuits, bikinis, tankinis, etc. Thankfully nobody was sporting tiny Speedos or the dreaded banana hammock. Whew!
I’ve got eight more half days of summer school to roll through so my swim time will probably be limited to the Saturday and Sunday regimen until Monday June 28th. That’s fine with me. It just feels good to get back in the swim of things.
NEXT BLOG- Things on my mind to get off my chest.