The facility, a small rectangular community pool with a diving board at the deep end, has remained unchanged in the 27 summers we have lived here. We have spent countless hours over the years swimming, treading, floating, sunning, and playing there with the kids in our lives (most of whom are all grown up now).
The pool saw us through the summer of 2020. The community instituted an online sign-up system to limit the number of people at a time, but it was still a great place to visit with neighbors when social distancing was still a very real thing, and several acquaintances became friends that summer.
The pool is also where Heidi has taught many of our friends' and colleagues' children to swim. It's always fun to see the kids tumble out of the car, blinking in the bright sunshine, eager to run up the hill to the pool in their Crocs. They love their time in the water almost as much as they love the snacks we bring for when the lessons are finished. The way they shiver on the hot chairs, wrapped tightly in their towels, trying to dry off a little before heading home, reminds me of when my brother, sister, and I were kids at our own neighborhood pool.
At the end of the season, we open the pool to the dogs. For a couple of hours on that last Sunday evening in September, they swim, fetch, and run around the deck at top speed, and Heidi always gets our dog to jump off the diving board at least once. It is quite a spectacle, and even neighbors without dogs come up to check out the action.
Living in a condo community can involve many compromises, but having a pool makes up for almost everything.
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