It’s just NOT THAT COLD outside: 45 degrees on the back porch. But for some inscrutable reason, it seems a whole lot colder than that. Don’t know why it seems so chilly: no overcast, no wind; But colder ‘n’ a by-gawd.
No sign of the Beloved Pool Dude this morning, but the pool is totally, utterly, completely spotless. This suggests he showed up before dawn, before the dawg and I rolled out of the sack.
If he did…well, getting into the yard, wrestling with the Hole in the Ground into Which to Pour Money, and then slipping away without alerting Ruby the Corgi was quite a trick.
That dog adores the man. She knows which day he shows up (how???) and lurks, watching for him so she can fling herself at him and try to love him into submission.
Truth to tell: if that pool were covered up and set to drain off any rain, the house and yard would pose no more trouble than living in an apartment. The desert landscaping just sits there — at this time of year, Yard Dude drops by once a month or so and pizzens a few weeds, and that is…IT. Even in the summer, when the weeds do grow, keeping them under control is no more than a monthly chore.
My next-door neighbor has done exactly that: drained the pool and left it empty. That thing has been an empty hole in the ground since before I moved in here, some years ago.
Problem is, the plaster dries out if the pool is allowed to drain. Then if you ever want to use the pool for swimming, you have to replaster the pool. No, Thank$.
But…but…on second and third and fourth thought… I can imagine installing a deck over that thing. Set up the drain so it’s somehow “open” permanently, meaning you’d never have mosquitoes to worry about and never have to fiddle with emptying out rainwater.
Still…people don’t buy houses with pools in these parts just so they can have a deck over a hole in the ground. Any such maneuver would surely harm the property value. At best, before you could put the shack on the market, you’d have to revive the pool and repair a sh!tload of damage.
Hm. Leaving it empty would be a convenience, all right: an expensive convenience.
AND FURTHERMORE….
Augh! Just as the human sets foot out the door to go down to AJ’s for some serious loafing (and grocery purchasing), WWWHHHHZZZZZZZZZ!!! There’s Gerardo and his guys. Blasting away with their weed-whackers and their blowers and...arrrghhhhhh!
Sheee-ut. So much for lunch. Or dinner…or whatever I imagined it would be.
Now I’ll have to wait till those guys exit, stage left, before I can even turn on the grill and throw a chunk of fish on it.
Dayum! Better get off my duff and write them a check. {sigh}