Dive In

Our lovely community pools (all three of them!) opened last weekend. This weekend we made our first visits (both days) since it was absolutely gorgeous weather. I love pools. And I've always loved those David Hockney pool paintings. Couldn't you just dive in?

The largest pool in the community is the one closest to our house and the one that the boy prefers because it has a water slide and a diving board. Connor is fearless and wants to play and swim with kids much older than he is. I try not to be a crazy mama bird and let him fly a little bit, but I still am forced to constantly herd him back to where I can see him and away from the generally kind 11 and 12 year olds that he is driving slowly insane. Its also a really big pool and I am constantly moving around. First, he wants to slide. Then he wants to "free swim" (he heard some kids use that term and now it is de rigeur). Then he wants to jump. All if it makes for no reading, no closing the eyes, no sitting still for long, and constant vigilance.

The pool was crowded both days. Yesterday when we arrived at 3:30pm I had to beg a chair from someone. 90 minutes later it was almost empty. By the time we left at 6:30 there were about 10 people in the water. During the crowded time, the voyeur in me came out and I overheard some interesting conversations.

1. Four teenage boys--older, graduating seniors, laying out on the concrete chatting. Boy 1: "All my mom and dad talk about is wine and real estate." Boy 2: "At least your mom and dad talk." OUCH.

2. Four 14 or 15 year old girls listening to two iPods with split ear buds.

-One of them, the most arrogant throughout the whole conversation, suddenly says "I am a really talented photographer. I don't know if you guys know that." Silence from the others.

-One of them is surfing the web on her device. She turns it to face the friends and says "Check out this website. Its just wives and handcuffs!"

-Girl 1: "Do you still text Robert?" Girl 2: "No. His mom reads his texts." GOOD MOM!!

-"Sterling people are so the BEST. They are the gangsta wannabes."

Despite this silly drivel, there were several conversations that included what I would describe as profound disdain for anyone that they believed took or abused drugs. That made me feel good, at least.