May2016
Smile
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parentswhohalf-suspected theymight
beraising thugs.Whilemymemoryof
it issomewhathazy, I’mprettysure the
term“Tasmaniandevils”wasputon
the table.Thesolution, itwas lateron
decided,was tobuildasmallswimming
pool.Thrillingnews toallofus,but
whenmygrandmother,whosupervised
theearlypartof theconstruction, said,
“We’regoing to throwallofyou into
thewaterwhen it’sdone,” itsounded
likea threat.Oncewehad thepool,we
becamealmostproductivemembers
of theextended family.Becausewe
wereeitherbusyactingoutourown
installmentof thePatrickDuffystarring
vehicle(again,Google),orholding
friendlybreath-holdingcompetitions,
thegrownupswere free todoas they
pleased,whichmostof the timewas
simply tonap.Whilemygrandmother
satnearbyandkeptoneeyeonusand
anotheronhernewspaper, someof
us learnedhow toswim, albeit too
energeticallyandwithstrokes that
perhapsdidn’tgiveusmaximum
efficiency.Someofus learnedhow to
refineourstorytellingskills(onecousin
isnowascriptwriter).
Thewaterbecameourhappyplace,
ourgo-tosanctuary thatabsorbedall
ourgracelessenergyand turned it
intosomethinguseful.Butwhenour
grandmother fellpermanently illa few
years laterandcouldno longerstepout
of thehouse,weseemed tosuddenly
outgrow itandsimplymovedon to
other things, like
Archie
comicbooks.
Threedecades later, thepool looks
somuchsmaller thanIremember it
tobe—notmuchbigger thanashark
tank, tobehonest. It’sprobablynot
evenaneighthof the lappool in the
fitnesscenterIgo to,whereIwash
away theday’sstresses inarefreshing
30-minuteswim that’sslowand
meditative.Butasmy introduction
towater’s transformativepowers, I’ll
alwaysremember that tinypool inmy
grandparents’houseas thebeginningof
aseaofpossibilities.
The
poolkids
STUCK INTHECITYFOR
THESUMMER?COOLOFFAND
GOSWIMMING. LMMARCH
RECALLSHOWTHEFAMILY
POOLSHAPEDHER
CHILDHOOD
A
syoungkids in thepre-cableTV,
pre-internet,pre-digitalworld
(aka theearly ’80s), thosehalcyondays
whenhavingyourownGame&Watch
inyourpocketaddedahaughtyswagger
toyourstep, theonlyentertainment
my threesiblingsandIcouldresort
toduringstiflinglyhotsummerdays
was tosplashaboutpretending tobe
PatrickDuffy in
Man fromAtlantis
(see
Google) inmygrandparents’ swimming
pool.Togetherwithsixothercousinsof
moreor less thesameage, thehistory
ofourcollectivechildhoodsummers
spent inmygrandparents’house,
boiler-roomstyle, isoftenreferred
to in twoeras:pool, andpre-pool.
Before itwasbuilt,ourgames involved
a lotofmud-coveredfighting in the
grasslessyard, andoftenended in
taunting,fighting, constantswitching
ofallegiances, somekindofpunching,
cryingorelementary-typecursing(we
hadn’t learned touse therealslashers
at thatpoint).
Thegrownupsblamed theflaring
tempersandrestlessnessonboredom
and theheat, and they talkedaboutus
kids in theevenbutconcerned toneof
THROWBACK
PHOTOBY
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