Swimming and Summer

I finally made it back to the pool today.  It was wonderful!

Some of my best memories are associated with swimming.  I remember those glorious summer nights when Dad would take us to the pool at the golf club in Eldon.  We would swim for two or three hours with the Luetkemeyers, playing Marco Polo, while Dad and Vic looked on with a drink or two.   Dad took us at least two or three times a week, giving Mom a much needed rest and completely wearing us out.  In July and August, Cousin Ron would tag along for even more fun.  Dad was the pool manager and found that a particularly thankless task but we reveled in the pool.

I got my first job as a lifeguard at El Rancho.  Fortunately, I never had to deal with a serious infraction, which was fortunate, because it was a relatively shallow pool, only 6 feet, with a diving board.  I took many lessons there as a child as well.

There were the chilly summer mornings when my brothers and I climbed aboard the Miller County R-III school bus and were off to swimming lessons at Lake Ozark.  I still remember the boats that sprayed what I think was DTD while we were splashing around, learning to swim and teaching wee ones.  For whatever reason, I always had the little ones who were afraid of the water.  My best friend, Connie, had the advanced class, something I envied until one of her students disappeared while swimming.  We found him after several minutes of panic, hiding under a dock.  6th graders haven't changed all that much....I cannot smell rubbing alcohol without thinking of Shirley Phillips putting drops into our ears to kill the lake bacteria.  And, I remember some serious cases of swimmer's ear.  I will always be thankful to Shirley who took some extra time to re-certify my lifeguard certification, after a particularly nasty class conducted by some college boys who were more concerned with looking good than certifying us as lifeguards.

And, when my own kids were little we joined the Y in South Kansas City.  I still remember standing in the pool with Matt, as a baby, watching while Becca climbed the slide.  I calmly called to the lifeguard "you'll have to get her, she can't swim."  "What?" he responded as Becca came down the slide and he bailed in.  She thought it was a great time!  And, we joined another pool and spent delightful afternoons with the Storms family, swimming and sunning.  There were afternoons at the old Lees Summit pool.

So, it seems natural to be back in the water at Legacy.