I wish I had a nice swimming pool to jump into right now. When I was a kid my hometown of Sioux Falls, SD, had several public swimming pools that were available for anyone to use at a minimal cost. My family qualified for 'free' swimming passes, due to our income level and the amount of people we had in our family, so every summer I would anxiously wait for those badges to arrive in the mail, and then my mom would sew them onto my swimming suit. We were required to have them sewn on our suits because the park system did not want kids sharing their passes with others. Occasionally, when my mom was too busy to sew the patches on, we would pin the badge onto our suits with a safety pin and then run to the pool for a swim. We crossed our fingers in hopes that the person at the gate would let us through without the badge being sewn on, and were always glad when we were let in with only a warning. What a triumph!
We were required to 'shower' before jumping into the pool. Showering to us meant getting a few drops of water on ourselves so we could prove that we had stood under the shower spigot. After walking through the required locker room showers, we then walked out into the sunny pool area and ran (i.e. walked fast.....running was not allowed) to the edge of the pool ready to jump in. To a child, there is nothing better in this world on a hot sunny day than to see a sparkling blue body of water filled with gleeful children splashing in the water! I was in heaven! Some days I would stick my toe in the water and gradually work my way up my legs until each section adjusted to the temperature change. This was a risk because we knew there was a possibility that the mean boys would see our discomfort with the cold water and come over to splash us, just to see us scream! How rude of them! LOL. Other days I would make bets with my friends and we would agree to count to three and then RUN (walk fast) to the edge of the pool, plug our noses, and leap into the crystal blue water! What a rush that was! Once the pool water enveloped around us, we would then jump up and down in the cold water until our bodies adjusted to the temperature. Nothing worse than trying to swim when you feel like an ice cube in a glass of Kool-aid! Once adjusted we would spend the rest of the day splashing, laughing and having a ball doing what kids do best.....playing. We would have swimming contests, do somersaults in the water, have underwater tea parties and diving contests. There would be cannon balls, splash bombs, and belly flops off the edge of the pool. We would play motor boat with our hands while spinning in the water, singing, " Motor Boat, Motor Boat, go so slow. Motor Boat, Motor Boat, go so fast. Motor Boat, Motor Boat, step on the gas! (This is when you spin your fastest and let your hand cup the water so it would glide across the surface, leaving a trail of water behind like a boat.) Ah, such fun this was.
It was always sad when the required 10 minute breaks were called. Everyone had to evacuate the pool at the top of each hour and lay out on the sidewalk for the break. The breaks wouldn't start until everyone was out of the water. It was during this time that adults were allowed to swim freely without a mass of children splashing all over the pool. I longed for the day when I would be old enough to be able to swim during these breaks.
The pool closed at 5 for family swim, which was from 5 to 6. No one was allowed to swim during this time unless you were with an adult. Sometimes my dad would take us to family swim, and we would feel like we had the entire pool to ourselves. Very few people were there. What bliss to be able to jump on our dad and play in the water like we owned the place! We felt like kings and queens of the swimming pool and never wanted to leave.
No comments:
Post a Comment