The swimming pool came down today. It was nice to see Jeff getting started so early. Usually I have to push him to get things done. I think the success of this last heart procedure has made a difference in his energy level. By the time I got up, he had all the top rails removed from the pool, half the side rails were off and he was pulling back the wall. As I walked outside to help, he was grumbling about the raindrops that had started to fall. Luckily, it stopped as quickly as it started. We pulled back the sidewall and continued to work on pulling out the side rails. Jeff dug out the reamining side rails while I pulled up the metal ring that held the floor of the pool. It was a dirty, messy job, but I moved as quickly as possible as the dark clouds moved in. The bottom rails were so rusted, they practically fell apart in my hands. I piled all the parts into neat piles and cleaned up behind Jeff as he worked. The long sidewall was the toughest. It took a lot of effort to lay out the sidewall into one long piece. We tried to roll it up but since it had buckled, it was too hard to do. I suggested that we cut it into pieces so we could just pile it up in the truck and in the end, that's what Jeff did. He got out his metal grinder and sawed right through it so we ended up with four pieces of side wall - much easier to transport.
The sky was getting darker as Jeff pulled the truck into the back yard. He got out, looked up and froze in his tracks. I yelled, 'hurry-up!' I think he was considering halting work until the rain passed but my statement quickly put that thought out of his head. We quickly loaded up the entire pool minus the liner, that was still under some water. We got within half of a block from the city yard thinking we were home free since it still wasn't raining, then we saw the line of cars. Apparently everyone else had the same idea. There had to be 15 cars waiting to show drivers' licenses to get in in front of us. That burst our bubble.
We got to the front of the line rather quickly and it still wasn't raining. We headed to the garbage dump first, and as soon as we started to chuck stuff in, it started to pour. We ran back into the truck to wait it out. After less than 5 minutes, it let up. It was still raining, but not as hard as when it first started so we got back out and finished throwing out the garbage. We drove over to the metal bins, which were really full and started throwing things in. There was plenty to throw in so it took a while and when we were done, the rain stopped.
It was a relief to get the entire job done, and we were back home having breakfast by 10:30.
While basking in the sense of accomplishment, a feeling of sadness set in. Another loss. The pool was a mark of passage into summer. Where lazy Saturday afternoons were spent in the summer sun, refreshed by a dip in the pool. What now? Do we get another one? Do we fill in the big hole in the yard? We're really not sure what the answer is. All I do know is that there's an emptiness here in a place where summer memories were created as our children grew up. Somehow I feel like I can't continue, can't put up another pool. I had dreams of teaching the baby to swim the same way I taught BJ. At 5-months old, I put him in the water. With no baby, I'm not sure I want another pool. As my dream goes, so does the pool. Maybe I will feel differently over the coming weeks as I look at the gaping hole in the back yard, but for now, all I feel is sadness at another loss. Good-bye, my summer friend.
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