The Old Man at the Pool

I remember the first time I saw the old man at the pool. People on the deck were generally of 3 forms, children in bathing suits, parents carrying pool bags and towels or young, sun bleached swim instructors wearing red bathing suits, visors and whistles. There was an occasional grandparent coming to watch their sweetie pie jump off the diving board, but they always came fully clothed.

This old man came wearing only a standard navy speedo and prescription transitional glasses. The kind that are never dark and never quite clear. On his feet were speedo slide sandals. Under one arm he carried a couple cases of soda pop and on the other arm draped his towel, cap and Swedish goggles. All the hair on his head, face and body was white with age. His hair was kept neat, but longer than most men his age. He had a well groomed white beard a couple inches long. The top of his head was bald. His skin had a sun kissed glow and was nicely wrinkled atop his still rather lean body. I am sure that at one point his shoulders were a little more square and his abs more defined, but for a man of his age, he had weathered well. I would estimate from his uneven step, wrinkles and hair color he was in his 70s. He was hard to miss on a pool deck full of yelling kids and teenagers.

Part of our instructor training included "surveying the scene." It was drilled pretty hard that we should be constantly scanning for potential problems, tired swimmers, running children, puddles of water, etc. This man didn't fit any of the emergencies we had been trained to spot, but I had to wonder why he was there.

It was my first year teaching swim lessons so I always watched what the other instructors did and I tried to follow suit. (terrible pun) Some nodded at him, some saw him and went on with their class. He headed to our tent to see the pool manager, so I moved on and kept teaching.

After my class I learned that the soda pop under his arm (usually pepsi and root beer) was for all of us staff. And it was ice cold. This was fantastic because our only relief from the sun and heat was a rudimentary tent made from a couple green tarps, bungee cords and metal poles cemented into tires. We had no electricity, let alone a fridge. Anything cold was a delight. (Sidenote, many Mondays we would arrive at the pool to find those cemented tire poles in the deep end. Hoodlums would jump the fence and roll them into the pool just to watch them sink. We became very good at deep sea diving, rolling them back the the shallow end and then levering them out of the pool. My lungs and arms hurt thinking about it.)

The old man brought the soda as a thank you for letting him swim laps during lessons. He didn't bring it every time, but often enough that we were happy to let him swim whenever he wanted. My internal moral compass made me wonder if this trade arrangement was legit or honest. He had no signed liability release form on file and the city never got one sip of the soda. What if he had a heart attack or something? But I drank my soda and figured that was on the pool manager. (Later when I became pool manager the practice continued. By then I knew he was NOT going to have a heart attack. We were all a greater liability than he was. And that pool was as much his as it was anyones.)

I worked at the pool every summer for 6 years through high school and college until I got married. You could say in a sense I grew up at that pool. I learned a whole heap about people, service, teaching, learning, humor, endurance, friendship, hygiene, safety, survival . . . all things that help make up who I am today. Still the memory of the old man is a treasure I won't forget.

Each time he came to swim he wore his tried and true swim uniform. He sauntered onto the deck with complete confidence. Not an arrogant confidence you see in some young male swim instructors, but the confidence that come with wisdom, time and routine. He spoke very little to us. I would say he was a little aloof, but it was more he was passing through a time he had already lived. He would just smile and maybe wave if we thanked him for the soda or said hi. I never knew his name, I don't think anyone did. He wasn't there to distract us. He came to swim.

He came to the pool like people come to church. But instead of spiritual healing or comfort, he came for renewal. You could see it in his countenance and step as he left each time. He was satisfied and alive again.

He usually swam for about an hour. He wasn't super fast, but his pace was consistent and never slowed. He knew all the strokes and swam them all; even the weird ones like inverted breaststroke and side stroke. Sometimes he would grab a kick board or pull buoy, but mostly he just put his head down and cut through the water. His best stroke was butterfly. I imagine at one time he must have been very fast and powerful, but now he swam fly the way some people do tai chi or yoga. In the Olympics, swimmers machine themselves through the water with force and speed, but he swam butterfly the way people dance. It was a graceful, rhythmic dance. Me? I can do fly for about 50 yards and then I have nothing left. He would do 100 yds fly, catch his breath and go again and again.

He never used the ladder to get out or in the pool like most old feeble people do. He hoisted himself in and out the same way we all did, with his arms, swinging his hips up onto the deck. When he was done, he sat at the edge of the pool with his feet dangling in the water for a few minutes. As he rested and caught his breath he watched the wild scene of kids splashing, crying, yelling, jumping, kicking; and all the staff doing our best to coach and help them. He had a content smile on his face as though all was as it should be. Then he would rub his face and head, stretch his shoulders, gather his things and saunter off the deck to the parking lot.

I know so little about the old man at the pool, yet he still inspires me today. He kept his talent and discipline. He kept his health and his form. And I don't know for sure, but it sure seemed to me that the simple routine of swimming brought him a whole lot of joy and satisfaction.

Several decades have passed since I watched him swim. I never was nor ever will be the swimmer he was. (Ask anyone on staff, I was much more a teacher than a swimmer.) But I can keep swimming. I can keep what I have. I can know that same joy and satisfaction.

Tuba City, AZ to HOME

Today we head home and today is Aaron's 9the birthday. We went to Denny's to celebrate. Denny's being the only breakfast place in town. Due to the lack of drive and competition on the Hopi Res, service was crazy slow. We had time for silly pics. Owen reminded me that we had not documented the loss of his tooth. He lost is the night before while we were staying at Cool Pined RV in Pasoga Springs. I think he couldn't sleep so he kept working on it. Mike and I were sound asleep when he jumped out of bed and declared he had lost his tooth!!

Somehow the tooth fairy found him. The tooth fairy is truly magic.

Next stop the Grand Canyon. It was sprinkling when we got there. Before we git to the Vista point it was pouring.  We looked a few seconds and ran for the car. 

The rain slowed down by the next stop. Aaron was tired of being rushed and told to stop his card game to look out the window. After all it was his birthday. 

At the stop after the canyon I got him a carved bear slingshot and an amithyst keychain. All better. 

We hoped to get hot chocolate, but there was only a McDs on the way out and a small was $4. We decided the heater and snacks in the car was a better deal.

The landscape was so pretty. We saw many trains along the way.

Mike had me drive for a bit. He was SO tired. He did most of the driving. He doesn't sleep well while I drive. And the kids don't help.

Our last stop was Oatman, AZ an old mining ghost town on Old Route 66. It was the weirdest place ever. And the road there was super crazy too.

When we got there, just as the websites said, there were wild burros wandering the streets. All sorts of shops and non sense. We didn't get there at the gunfight show time, but they do those too. Mike was a good sport about this stop. So tired and ready to be home, but he still drove us a bit out of the way to see it.

We got back on I-40 at Topock, CA right at the Colorado River. 

I will have to do a couple follow up posts:

Tips for planning an Epic Road Trip

How to choose a camp spot

Keeping kids happy on Road trips

and maybe a rating on each place we slept. 

This was for sure one of the most amazing life experiences I have ever had. Such a blessing to spend this time seeing our great country with my dear family. 

Pagosa Springs, CO to Tuba City, AZ

On our way out of town we saw hot air balloons. I think it was a first for a few of the kids.

We talked all about the physics of them. Luke wondered how you steer them. When we explained it, he said, "Wow, those need an upgrade." 

Next we saw Chimney Rock. So many cool rocks in the south west.

Our big stop of the day was Mesa Verde. 

The National parks are so well done. Cool statues our front the visitor's center.

We climbed up and up to the top of the plateau. It was a grand view.

We visited the Spruce Tree Dwellings. This was a basement house we climbed down a ladder into. The room was round and had a fireplace with a chimney.  It probably kept them pretty warm down there.

Next we went on a hike to see petroglyphs.

It was about 3-4 miles. It had a few ups and downs and took us along the cliffs of the plateau. 

They found their own cave dwelling. 

This was one of the vistas we came upon. A nice family just ahead of us took the picture for us.

On the way out we saw wild horses and these wild turkeys right on the road. 

These next two pictures are out of order. I can't figure out how to move them around with my blogger app on my phone.  We did RMCF in Durango between Pagosa Springs and Mesa Verde.

Our last stop of the day was Four Corners. The kids has looked at it on the map in our hall for months and then the map decal on the car window for weeks. It was cool to finally be at the spot they had identified for so long. 

We stayed at the RV park behind the Quality Inn in Tuba City. It wasn't the prettiest or nicest stop along our path, but I appreciated being near the bathroom and showers, ice and stores just next door, water and electicity hook ups. Also no biting bugs. 

Scott City, KS to Pagosa Springs, CO

We had a great stay at Lake Scott. We left recharged and happy. It was then back to the boring drive of flat Kansas. We kept seeing these bikers. It was so random. Just biking a two lane highway all alone in the middle of no where. 

It was so flat! And nothing for as far as you could see.

We came upon some random road construction. They were widening the road. Why? We had no idea. Mike started in on the insanity of the whole idea. I was laughing until I cried. 

We looked up the nearest Redbox because our movies were getting old for the kids. The closest one was 2 hours away. Finally we got to the "Loaf and Jug" that had one. 

Next stop was lunch. I loved the huge old brick or block buildings in the old towns. They were always so well made, such character. They seemed to last the test of time so well.

We climbed up to 10,000 ft. and drove through La Manga Pass. It was so beautiful. No pictures I took did it justice. About the same place we crossed the Continental Divide. We saw the Rio Grand National Forrest and San Juan National Forrest. We went from pancake flat to mountain majesties in minutes. 

We stayed at Cool Pines RV park. Everyone there was summering from Texas. All old people.  It was a tight squeeze for the trailer, but Mike it getting good at the trailer. 

After we set up camp we down into town and found the hot springs. 

The water from the springs was crazy hot, so they funneled spring water down ton the river and had nice little pools made of rock. Or you could pay $20 a person and go into the spas and resorts.

Nature's jacuzzi right there.

I don't really like this picture of me, but it shows the mosquito bite under my eye and on my cheek a little. They are healing slowly. My eyelid is much better.

We picked up milkshakes, chocolate malt, banana split and black raspberry. We saved them in the cooler for after dinner which was soup. It was a cool 70 degrees so soup sounded kind of good. Chicken wild rice with added black beans and corn. The black raspberry shake was crazy good. We were all sad I only bought 3 to share.

Independence, MO to Scott City, KS

We had originally planned to stay two nights in Independence, but our sleep there was terrible, it was forcasted to keep raining, and we had seen all the church sites we came to see. So we packed up and left. 

But not before a few rides at Worlds of Fun.

So Kansas is beautiful. But I can't say it's very interesting. 

It looks just like this for hours on end. Reminded me of Nebraska but with fewer stops and cities. We had no idea what our camp ground would be like, but we expected a few trees in the middle of a field.

Boy were we wrong. Lake Scott is down in the bottom of a large ravine. You would completely miss it unless you came right up on it. It was like a prairie oasis. Simply stunning and surprising. 

We set up camp. Luke cranked up the tent top and noticed it wasn't cranking right. He called Mike over who finished cranking it all the way up. But then we had problems with the door. The roof was too high. I went over to check the tention in the wire that gauges when to stop cranking the roof up. It was really tight.

Mike came over to see. He tried to crank it down, but as he turned nothing happened in either direction. This was bad. Our tent was stuck. You can't drive a tent trailer on the interstate with the tent up. And we were in the middle of no where. I walked back to some nice people I had noticed as I payed our fees. I borrowed a screw driver for Mike to use. He had wrenches, but no screw driver. 

The kids were anxious to play and making Mike nuts. So I walked them to the playground and swim area. We stopped for a minute and I told them what was going on with the trailer. They were sincerely concerned. Luke offered a prayer. 

We finished our walk over and the kids played. They had so much fun. 

It's too bad they don't put more of these in at parks.

After the playground, then a swim. 

As I watched them play I couldn't help but worry about the trailer. If Mike couldn't fix it, we were seriouslying stuck for a while. 

I envied the kids ability to understand the situation, but they knew there was nothing they could do about it. They didn't worry, they played and completely trusted that things would work out and they would be taken care of. And in the mean time they enjoyed their time together, making the most of every minute. 

I learned from them.

When we returned Mike was finishing up. With the screw driver he was able to remove a panel and see that our air pump had fallen back into the gears. He was able to cut all the wires loose and pull them out. 

I helped him test the roof going up and down. It worked! Whew! We were so relieved and so grateful.  

We slept so well. It was cool enough we slept with no a/c and the windows unzipped. It was delightful. We woke up to geese honking. 

Mike went for a run and saw buffalo, wild turkeys, badger, tons of deer, raccoon and a crane. It took him a while to get back. The lake was bigger than he thought.  He got in quite a run.

Nauvoo, IL to Independence, MO

We packed up wet clothes and towels and headed towards the church history sites in Missouri. The mosquitoes in Nauvoo are very aggressive.  I put several coats of cutter on, but I was still bitten--eye lid and crease of my elbow. I can see why so many died of milaria there. There is no escape.

I hope we would see some Amish at some point and we did. 

First stop was Adam-ohdi-ahman. It was beautiful. And especially beautiful from the air conditioned car. It was so hot, the air was so thick it was hard to breathe. I immediately felt nauseous.  It was 100 degrees and crazy humid.

They had great maps there. They came in handy because some roads were out from flooding. 

This was Spring Hill. Everything there was so well maintained and manicured. Surrounding areas were very run down. 

Next stop was Far West. This was a really cool place. The cornerstones were there and in glass cases. There was a beautiful monument.  Despite there being no temple, it still felt like temple grounds. 

Next up was Liberty Jail. (Such an oximoron title) I loved hearing the history of the jail and the construction. Being there made all the stories more meaningful and real.

I loved the Kansas City Temple. Beautiful grounds. Clean architecture. I wish each temple had a pamphlet about the history and design of that particular temple. We were so lucky to tour the Indianapolis Temple and learn all about why certain features were used and chosen. 

Last stop was the Independence Visitor's Center. Such cool stuff there. They gave a great history of the area and the early saints who lived there.

The kids were very worn and wild by this time. The sisters asked them several times to settle down. We had to leave. Which I guess was very appropriate considering the history of the location. Haha

It began to rain of coarse. But it was still so hot. The kids had cold spegettios and canned peaches from the cooler. Mike left to grab us peach shakes from Chick-fil-A. We went to bed. It was a rough night of sleep. We stayed at Campus RV park. Its right next door to the visitor's center and also the train tracks. Thunder, lighting, train whistles and Scarlett was up with a fever. Poor girl. So worn out. Hoping she will rest well in the car tomorrow.