Pool Bum

The last several years, at the apartment where we first lived, and now at our condominium, I have tried to spend a couple of hours a day outside at the pool all summer reading. This pastime has caused my wife to nickname me "Pool Bum." I will wade into the water on occasion to cool off, but not to swim. I grew up on a lake and was always a very comfortable swimmer (I can still remember -- BARELY -- taking swimming lessons at the appropriately named Allen Lake when I was 5), but my accident caused me to be unable to hold my breath in the water. So, other than an easy backstroke, swimming itself is now out. But I still do love being in and around the water. At the apartment, I would, every few minutes, walk in, off the deck, at the deep end, sink to the bottom, and slowly rise and backstroke to the shallow end. This continued until my wife chastised me ... "you'll SCARE people!"