Time for the Outdoor Pool!

The outdoor pool is finally open, and we'll be swimming in it until Labor Day (thunderstorms pushing us back indoors). It's a whole new experience - with a very cold run out to the pool, and a very cold run back into the building. But it's also an Olympic length pool, and we get swimmers from throughout the Greater Metro Area coming to join us in our morning swims. It can be crowded, but we have learned to deal. There's one group of very experienced swimmers who group in the lane on the far left. The lane on the far right is usually Rosemary, and sometimes other slower swimmers will join her. One lane is for Walter. He's HUGE - well over 6 feet tall, but a very gentle giant. He shares when he needs to, but most people avoid the experience. 

I actually walked quite a long way around the pool to give 
you the full look. The far left is the diving pool, where our 
water exercisers usually mingle. The long section from 
right to left is the olympic-sized swimming pool where the rest 
of us swim. The lane markers are floating and the furniture 
is ready for the crowds. Our outdoor pool gets a LOT of 
people over the summer months. 

I'm looking forward to the water, and NOT looking forward to the run into and out of the building to get to and from the pool. Still, watching the sunrise while swimming laps ... it's just magical. We'll have the usual small frogs trying to swim along with us (we usually try to rescue them and get them out of the chlorinated water), and we'll have bugs - there's no getting away from bugs in a Minnesota summer. I really need the exercise, and it will be lovely to see some of the other swimmers who only come to our YMCA in the summer months. So, even though it will be a cold run in and out, I'm considering it well worth it. 

Glancing left from my driveway towards the drainage ditch, 
I saw these two. There was a third deer, but it quickly took 
off as I pulled into the drive. But these two just stood there, 
accusing me of interfering with their morning munch (or visit) 
to my garden which is to the right, down a hill. I showed the 
pic to DH and he just grumbled. He fights the deer away from 
his flowers all summer long. 

The photo above is my front yard from the driveway. I was in my car between errands, texting DH to see if he wanted to join me for a quick trip to the grocery store, when I looked to my left. Do you see them? There was a third, but that one quickly ducked down into the watershed ditch. These two, however, were as mesmerized at my car as I was mesmerized at them. When I showed the photo to DH, he of course grumped about the deer eating the garden. He's right, of course, but aren't they just lovely? And I'm in a first-ring suburb - not way out in the outer circles. I love that our wildlife find ways to adapt and remind us that we're only visitors here. 

So, have a great day. I'm off to the pool and I'll be back tomorrow. Be kind, think positive thoughts and Slava Ukraini.