Everybody in the Pool
With temperatures soaring across most parts of the country everyone is looking for a little relief from the heat. If you are fortunate enough to live near a lake or the ocean you can find your piece of paradise to cool off. But even lakes with unprecedented amounts of algae and the awareness that our good friends from “Jaws” are continuing to rear their ugly heads, I mean fins, in many parts of the Atlantic particularly along the beaches of Cape Cod. So, I don’t know about you but lakes and the ocean are seeming to be a little less appealing than years gone by.
I grew up in a N.J. suburb of New York City and had several friends who had backyard pools, both in-ground and above ground. I loved the summers hanging out with my friends and going for a swim at all times of the day or night — nighttime swimming felt especially more decadent. I’m a decent, not great swimmer and unlike swimming in a lake or the ocean, I feel secure knowing where the pool ends and that I can safely put my feet down on the pool floor without stepping on something foreign and really gross. So each summer I would seek out the resort pool in Provincetown that will have the least amount of kids or people for that matter so that I can actually use the pool to swim in and not just wade in the water.
Fast forward to the summer of 2020 and Covid-19. I know that resort and public pools have been reopening with specific regulations — limited swim times, restricted number of people allowed in, etc. But how does one social distance and wear a mask in a swimming pool? I haven’t figured that out yet, so let me know if you do. The brilliant advice I read from the CDC is; “Advise those wearing face coverings to not wear them in the water. Cloth face coverings can be difficult to breathe through when they’re wet”. Are you kidding me? They actually felt the need to have to tell swimmers they shouldn’t wear their face masks while swimming. But, I guess after Trump’s advice on bleach we really shouldn’t give anyone the benefit of the doubt and just assume everyone is a moron.
So, I hope you find relief from the heat and stay safe in doing so. But for now, I think it should be “nobody in the pool”.
Be strong, be well, and stay safe!
Pam Damnit
