Lenten Thanks, Day 5
Thank you, God, for the beautiful days and nights of an Arizona springtime.
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The water in the pool is almost warm enough for a brave soul to take the plunge.
When I was 12, my mother used to take me to a “Rod and Gun Club” operated by my father’s employer, Standard Oil. It was somewhere in the East Bay, how far on the ’tother side of the Golden Gate Bridge I do not recall. What I do recall is that they had a pool whose waters were, on the warmest day of a Bay Area summer, about the temperature of the water in my backyard today.
That I would blithely dive into that refrigerator-chilly water, I’m sure, helped to convince my mother that her daughter was none too bright.
It was cold. The trick was never to just put your toe in. The trick was to throw yourself in off the side, in one bold, brave splash, a dive that could not be taken back. About two seconds later, the water felt like a cool spring breeze against your skin. It was so fun you just lost track of whether it was cold or not, and you felt sorry for your poor, fat, benighted mother that she didn’t have the nerve to follow you into the drink.
Now the question that crosses my mind, as I stand on the step with the waterline lapping up against a belly about three times the circumference of that twelve-year-old waist, is this: “If I dive into this pool, will it freeze my titties off?”
The answer: “Probably so.”
God, but wisdom takes all the joy out of life.
Thanks for the laugh!
Loved this. There are so many childhood pleasures that simply can’t be reproduced. Think of all the candy and horrible foods that we wouldn’t touch now.
When I was a kid I thought Dinty Moore Stew was fine dining.
LOL! Didn’t see that one coming.
Another Bay Area refugee, I see.