Sunday August 8th
Finally today, the man with a new pool heater on his truck, promises to come and install it. One of the pleasures of the summer here in the heat of the mountains is to swim each day and to be able to toss oneself in the pool whenever it just gets too hot. The pleasure of being able to lie on the surface of the pool and stare at the sky and the trees is indescribable. Early morning plunges with a flurry of laps up and down the pool is a wonderful way to wake up, let alone the daily hot afternoons lolling about with my daughters in the water, laughing and talking and practicing gratitude for our good fortune. The pool is close to the house, which casts a shadow over the water in the mix -afternoon, preventing the sun from burning those in its depths.
Still without a heater, even in this heat, there is a twenty-five-degree difference between the air and the pool. Too cold for me. Ten years ago during my first winters in Ojai, I wondered why the people turning eighty didn’t do water aerobics in the winter with us. Now I know and no doubt I shall join them unless we find a winter pool with steaming, inviting water to ease the stiffness and aches of old age.
