Pool or Pond

"Pond would be good for you. Natural spring water."

One of the annual rites of the season is the opening of the pool at my parents house. It is a highly anticipated event, especially by my boys. Each year, I try to get my Dad to open it a little earlier. He got into a bad habit when my brother and I were at school, of opening the pool after Memorial Day and closing it on Labor Day. A few years ago I was successful in lobbying my Dad to close it later in September and a year or two ago, almost into October. But the opening has yet to be substantially before Memorial day. Weather has made it tough. But when it's hot over Memorial Day weekend, you want the pool open, whether it was warmed up or not. The boys will at least jump in to say they are in.
This year I noticed another interesting phenomenon. Every year when my brother and I helped to open the pool, it was an all day project. There are long rubbery plastic bags with two chambers, that you fill with water to weigh down the pool cover. We had to empty those and them scrub them clean. My brother and I spent hours with scrub brushes, getting the dirt and grime that had accumulated over the winter, off those bags. Then we scrubbed both side of the pool cover. I took Caz and Coco over to help open the pool. Karma was in my favor and Dad was making a dump run when the boys and I started on the water bags. Love my Dad, but for things like that, it's best to keep him out of the way. The boys and I emptied all the bags, laid them out on the lawn, and were ready to scrub them down. As I was collecting the scrub brushes and uncoiling the hose, my dad came home. He saw me grab the brushes and he said to the boys, just "use the hose and spray them off. Don't worry about scrubbing those." I wanted to push him in the pool. And I told him so. His answer? "I can't work my grandsons that hard." That and it only took him 30 odd years to realize that it didn't help preserve them at all. Talk about your circle of life.