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.

"Nervous" Journal Introduction

For one of my writer’s choice pieces I chose a journal entry titled “Nervous.” It was journal number five, written towards the middle of the quarter. I wrote about a time I was really nervous, it happened to be time I was sitting in the DMV waiting to take my drivers test to get my license. I picked this journal because I described exactly what happened and how nervous I was because I was anxious to get my license. I use very strong detail to describe my experience. One example of the detail I used is, “I felt like she was bracing herself for a crash and she was looking for something negative to write on her clipboard.”

Journal #5 Nervous

One time when I was overly nervous was just before my drive test for my license. While I’m sitting there my knees were trembling in those plastic chairs. I’ve been waiting my whole life for this moment; I just didn’t want to mess it up. When they finally called my number, I felt butterflies as we were walking out to my car. After we got started my hands were moistening the steering wheel at ten and two. Turning right out of the parking lot I felt like she was bracing herself for a crash clutching the hand rest. While I was backing around the corner it seemed she was just waiting to write something on her clipboard, making me nervous. But after I perfected the parallel parking I knew I pass.

"The Car Was Messy" Journal Introduction

“The Car Was Messy” will be one of my writer’s choice pieces. This was journal entry from the beginning of the quarter. I chose this piece because this is when I learned to use descriptive words creatively and it is something I am proud of. In the journal I had to show the reader how messy the car was, and not just tell the reader. This journal demonstrates my strengths of creating a mental picture for the reader to better understand my writing piece. An example of the strong descriptions I used to describe the car is, “If I could see the carpet I assume it wouldn’t be much different, but all I could see was Wendy’s and Burger King wrappers with old, rock hard french fries.”

Journal #4 The Car Was Messy

Walking up to the car I didn’t realize it was originally a white car. I ran my finger down the paint writing “wash me” turning my finger a nasty brown color. Opening the door was like opening a Port O Poty. Stench was so rancid that I had to breathe through my shirt. I couldn’t see through the windows from the caked on grim. If I could see the carpet I assume it wouldn’t be much different but all I could see was Wendy’s and Burger King Wrappers with rock hard French fries. With mold growing on the dash I decided to get out before I got sick.