Yesterday, I stood at the end of the deck in the beautiful sunshine. It was in the 80s with no humidity. I yelled, “Geronimo!” Then I jumped into our new pool. I am not a gloater, but our pool is open, and we have been swimming since May 10th. If I were a gloater, I would say, “Waz up bitches! Check it out; I’m swimming already!”
Swimming on May 10th may sound crazy, especially since we live in the Northeast, but the water temperature was 84 degrees. Marty and I waited our whole adult life to have a pool and decided we would invest in a heat pump to swim comfortably for six months out of the year.
If we didn’t have a heated pool, we would only be swimming in July and August. We both grew up with above-the-ground pools and used them a lot. We didn’t give two shits when we were kids if the water was warm or cold.
I remember my parents forcing me to come out of the pool when my lips were blue. My dad tried to keep me out of the pool if the water was colder than 70 degrees. The ridiculous thing to me as a kid and still kind of now is the waiting 30 minutes after you eat to swim again. Why?
How many people got stomach cramps from a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch or a piece of chicken or hot dog for dinner. It wasn’t like we ever ate big belly sinker meals in the dog days of summer.
Yesterday, after production, we quickly put on our bathing suits so we could get into the pool to install our “wedding cake” stairs. I knew these pool stairs existed but didn’t know they were called wedding cake steps. Guess what? They look like a wedding cake!
We have learned from watching other people’s mistakes that since we are in our mid to late 50s, everything we buy we do with 15 years later in mind. Older people who buy a 3rd-floor walk-up apartment or build a brand new home and don’t put their master bedroom on the ground floor aren’t thinking ahead.
We both knew that going up and down a ladder wouldn’t work for us. It was shaky and dangerous using the ladder only a few times, so we knew it would be impossible down the road.
Marty found a set of used steps in Facebook Marketplace, where we find almost everything we buy. He picked up the steps for $150, which cost as high as $800 new. Marty is a master at finding the things we need at the right time and price.
The wedding cake steps make entering and exiting the pool safe and easy. As a bonus, the steps are a perfect place for us to sit and enjoy a cocktail in the pool.
We had to build a small deck for the steps to attach to; for the record dollar for dollar, that was the most expensive part of the whole pool project due to the unbelievably high cost of building materials.
Now we won’t have to go to a hotel that has a pool because we want to sit our asses on lounge chairs and take a dip. We can go somewhere to sightsee or to a particular destination when we go away.
The best part of the whole heat pump thing is that instead of waiting to swim, we can do it already. We will be able to swim through October as well if we wish.
Today, I remembered everything I did in the pool when I was a kid, like handstands and crab walks. I jumped in a bunch of times. I transplanted some herbs this afternoon, and it was hot on our back deck. After I got done planting, the most incredible thing was I jumped back into the pool to cool off.
“Cannonball!” 😂
