“Remoted” – Day 505 (Tuesday)

The neighbors put up a pool.

The new neighbors installed a pool. “Installed” might be an overstatement, as there was no digging needed and they were able to set it up on the flat concrete patio in their back yard. The squeals of the kids splashing in the pool waft across the yard and into my open windows.  It reminds me of when my family had a pool. I don’t recall my age when we got it, but I think it was around eighth or ninth grade. 

Our yard sloped, and Dad and some of the guys from the neighborhood put in a lot of effort to dig a flat spot for the pool. “Guys” in this case were schoolmates of my brother and me who were somehow tricked into this brutal form of summer labor camp. Once the pool was set up, it was four feet above ground about three quarters of the way around, and less above ground where it was set into the hill. It was a pretty good pool, but like every pool I've ever encountered, the chlorine would mess up my skin.

For a few years, the house next door to us had two boys around the same general ages as my brother, sister, and me. I don’t think they were living there yet when the pool was put in, and weren't part of the digging crew. Some hospitable genius at my house, I don’t remember who, told the neighbor guys they could come over and swim any time. And they did. Practically every day. The neighbor dudes would be splashing around in our pool having a grand time at their private pool party for most of the afternoon. Meanwhile, my sister and I would watch from the bathroom window, sweating and waiting for them to leave so we could swim in our own pool in peace.

As soon as they were finally gone, we would race downstairs, out the back door, and into the pool. Our pool. By then, the sun had moved behind the giant tree next to the pool, the pool was shaded, and I wouldn't last long due to being cold. In retrospect, the neighbor guys were probably waiting for us to come out to swim with them, but their presence was the very reason we didn’t. We didn’t dislike them, we barely knew them. What we didn’t like was them being camped out in our pool all afternoon. We just wanted our pool to ourselves so we could do dorky things like water ballet in peace.

Back then, I was shy and awkward around guys. Ha! I say that like it actually ever went away. Correction: back then, I was shy and awkward around guys, traits which were reinforced and perfected over the following decades. I can’t help but wonder what might have happened if my sister and I had gone swimming with the neighbor boys. Maybe I would have become a better swimmer. Maybe I would have learned to be less of a nervous wreck around boys. Maybe one or both of us might have had next door boyfriends. At the least, the two neighbor guys we were annoyed with because they were in our pool all summer might have become actual friends. Things we’ll never know, but if I ever come across a time machine, I may go back to those summer afternoons not spent in the pool to find out.