Summertime

Cannonball! Splashing the sunbathers was the reward for preparing the pool for summer. But before you get your swim trunks and bikinis on there, was work to be done. Believe it or not, the pool doesn’t always stay as crystal clear as it is mid summer. Late august the weather starts cooling down and the desire to lounge around outside starts to fade. Once pool season is officially over, the annual ceremony of pulling the tarp over it takes place. Opening the pool for summer is easier said than done but has its rewards on the hot sunny afternoons.

The very first thing that happens is the comment “Jeez it’s so hot out today, I wish the pool was ready.” Taking the cover off is what gets everything started. That means now everyone can see our half filled, green pool with an occasional frog in it. My pool looked like a swamp. Branches, leaves and burnt out fireworks from past parties from next door litter the water. Using the skimmer which is basically a long pole with net at the end of it does the job yanking up all debris.

After almost all large objects are removed, its time to vacuum the bottom. Yes, there is such a thing as an underwater vacuum. All you have to do is connect its hose to the pump and it filters out all the bad stuff. Two hours later, it’s an improvement but not yet swimmable. If it’s absolutely necessary and you cannot get all the algae off, draining the pool so its accessible to scrub the bottom is one option, but that takes up to two full days. A faster solution is to tough it out and dive down there with some goggles and scrub with soft brush, while the water is barely 60 degrees.

Next, when it’s up to your standards, it’s highly recommended to add chlorine powder to the water, making sure no living thing can survive such as frogs, bugs, mosquitoes. Waiting for the chlorine to dissolve gives time to make the appearance of the pool area more attractive. Use a pressure washer or broom to sweep away the pine needles and sticks from the edge of the pool so they can’t be blown back in from the wind or tracked in off someone’s feet.

Finally, if you’re a seasoned swimmer, it’s possible to get tired of the same old swimming back and forth. After someone broke the diving board last year, it was time to get creative. In a trip to Target you can get the essentials, like a few pairs of goggles and snorkels, basketball hoop and killer whale floatation with a squirt gun coming from its mouth. Setting up the basketball hoop was easy just using the supplied bolts to fasten to the fence going alongside the shallow end.

In a little over a day all the work pays off, you can jump, dive or flip into the pool with relief. At first the assignment felt large and impossible, but if you take it on in parts it’s not too difficult and rewarding in many ways.