Monday, July 1, 2013

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!



Ah the sun, the sun, the sun, the sun!  Not only did it hang around for quite a while yesterday, but today is exponentially MORE "partly sunny" than "partly cloudy" despite the skeptical weather forecast.

I get an extra dose of my natural vitamin D today.  I see the sun this morning and decide to go outside and read while that bright orb in the sky gives us some time in its glow.  When I come back in ninety minutes later, there is an email from my Cat TV friend.  I get as far as, "Hanging by the pool…" when I start frantically calling her.  Pool time!  More sun!  Yeehaw!

I'm not really so excited for a pool.  I have a membership at the Y and can swim in two pools pretty much any damn day I feel like it.  I have not seen my friend since school ended for us both, though, and that's very exciting.  Today the pool is also exciting because it will probably feel good on my hip, which is more of a lower back injury at this point. 

The part that truly excites me is that the sun is out enough for anyone to even consider going into an outdoor pool.  My mind suddenly believes that if I were to miss this opportunity, it might rain for the rest of the summer, and I'll never get a chance to go in the outdoor pool if I don't go now.

A couple of summers ago, I left a lot of my beach-time until the last two weeks of August.  I reasoned, "I will go to the beach every single morning during the last fourteen days of August because I can!"  And that rationality certainly did pan out because I was available every single day for the last two weeks of vacation.

But Mother Nature has a psychotic sense of humor. 

That summer it rained and was cold and miserable for the entire two-week period before school started.  It was so crappy out that beaches closed early and boarded up their businesses.  When did the weather turn back to sunny, hot days that summer?  The very first day all teachers had to report back inside the classrooms. 

So today when I see the word "pool," I jump -- no, I fly --- to my car so damn fast that I truly believe there must be tread marks on the floor from the soles of my feet.  It's not just about seeing my friend (though this is truly important).  It's not just about working the kinks out of my back and hip (though any relief at this point is welcome).  It's not just about the pool (though it is very nice -- built into a rock wall). 

It's about out-smarting Mother Nature.

Bring it on, Beeyotch.  Bring on the cool days and the endless rain and the nasty weather patterns and the early snow and the tricky hurricanes and the sandstorms and the typhoons and the earthquakes and whatever else you've got. 

You cannot ruin my summer now because I've already been swimming! 

HA!

I take my vacation time very seriously.  Let the games begin.