The pool
My stepmother, who teaches during the school year, manages a swimming pool during the summer. As a fringe benefit of her job, her family can swim for free. Last night, she invited me and the kids to come swim.
We didn't actually do that much "swimming," in the sense of any recognizable stroke. Kelsey went down the water slide over and over. I finally gave in and tried it, too. I can't say I was too impressed. I moved a lot more slowly than I thought I would. Kelsey told me she used her hands with swimming motions as she went down. I might try that next time.
Robert and I played catch for a while. I'm not sure either of us caught the ball more than twice. Mostly, we threw it and then dived after it. If we threw it just right, though, we could get it to skip across the water, and that was kinda cool.
When it was almost time to close the pool, Mary invited the kids into the pool office. Kelsey got to make the announcement: "May I have your attention, please. The pool will be closing in five minutes ...." Then Mary handed the mike to Robert, who said with perfect clarity, "Thank you!" I had fun watching them, and they had fun doing it.
When it was finally time to go, Kelsey and Mary went into the women's room to change. Robert stayed near the door of the men's room as I changed; he wanted to keep wearing his suit. As I left the room, I noticed that Robert seemed very cold. He no longer had the towel I'd wrapped around his shoulders earlier. "You look cold," I said. "Where's your towel?"
"Oh, Kelsey has it," he explained. Then he shivered some more. "I'm practicing my shivering."
We didn't actually do that much "swimming," in the sense of any recognizable stroke. Kelsey went down the water slide over and over. I finally gave in and tried it, too. I can't say I was too impressed. I moved a lot more slowly than I thought I would. Kelsey told me she used her hands with swimming motions as she went down. I might try that next time.
Robert and I played catch for a while. I'm not sure either of us caught the ball more than twice. Mostly, we threw it and then dived after it. If we threw it just right, though, we could get it to skip across the water, and that was kinda cool.
When it was almost time to close the pool, Mary invited the kids into the pool office. Kelsey got to make the announcement: "May I have your attention, please. The pool will be closing in five minutes ...." Then Mary handed the mike to Robert, who said with perfect clarity, "Thank you!" I had fun watching them, and they had fun doing it.
When it was finally time to go, Kelsey and Mary went into the women's room to change. Robert stayed near the door of the men's room as I changed; he wanted to keep wearing his suit. As I left the room, I noticed that Robert seemed very cold. He no longer had the towel I'd wrapped around his shoulders earlier. "You look cold," I said. "Where's your towel?"
"Oh, Kelsey has it," he explained. Then he shivered some more. "I'm practicing my shivering."