Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Muddy waters


strong man, originally uploaded by toyfoto.



The summer is just flying by in a heat-soaked humid kind of way. We swelter at home or hole up in the only room with air conditioning, watching movies.

It's the kind of summer that makes me drool as I drive through the local communities counting backyard swimming pools. It's so bad it's even threatened to end my boycot of Walmart just so I can procure this blue monster for our backyard.

Thank goodness I can't commit to such an impulse buy.

Yesterday, while the kids and I were out running errands (bringing about 10 rolls of film to be processed) and getting lunch at Ralph's Pretty Good Cafe (which should really strive to become Ralph's FRIGGIN' AWESOME Cafe if they insist on continuting to hawk $7 grilled cheese sandwiches and $6.50 milkshakes) Annabel saw Crellin Pond and started the "I-want-to-swim-in-that-big-pool-with-all-those-kids" chant.

"Not THAT pond," I think to myself as I recall the countless times I'd driven past that body of water to see it covered completely in migrating Canada geese. How may times had I stepped in goose grease while taking the dogs for walks? No, I couldn't let her swim there.

So I diverted her attention until it was bedtime. "MAAAAYBE we can go swimming later after your nap (you know, the nap you no longer take?). Look, honey, you don't even have a bathing suit with you. ... Oh look, kiddo, a plane."

But I couldn't get around it forever. It's much to hot not to swim.

And today was perfect. It rained in the morning, Jed's job got postponed and it wasn't too terribly sunny. So we piled in the car and went to Grafton Lakes State Park, a swimming place of my childhood.

Sure, it's a trek but it's worth it. We can spend the day there. We could have a picnic. We could swim for as long as we like and not even have to think about how many septic tanks empty out into the water ... because the land is largely undeveloped.

Yeah. ... that's the kind of delightful stuff I think about now as a parent. Shite AND Shineola.

6 comments:

the stefanie formerly known as stefanierj said...

The park that is a few blocks from our house has a public pool, and it is easily the best $2.50 I spend every week.

the mad momma said...

precious precious picture....

Carl said...

Really not much swimming down your way, is there? I was upset for years when Red Oaks in Schodack closed. Well, I'm still upset. And Grafton is a haul for us up here in E. Greenbush, let alone down your way. Taconic is deepwater swimming (with a shallow spray pool for little ones) and cold cold cold. The other choice is Methodist Farm, out in the Burden Lakes area, where you can pay to swim. I think it's like $5, has an adequate beach, nice little changing house, definitely family friendly. Closer than Grafton, anyway.

toyfoto said...

when i was a kid, lyon's lake had a pool and for $50 you could get a season pass. there is a golf course relatively close to us that has a pool to which they sell memerships seperately. But i didn't want to do that before Annabel was more independent. I've not been able to swim with her and hold the baby.

my dad is signing her up for swim lessons at the n. albany Y today, though. So she'll be swimming this fall with him.

Carl said...

That's cool. We all did our time at the downtown Y, every Saturday morning for years. The East Greenbush Y, about 3 miles up the road from me, wasn't open yet.

toyfoto said...

Before Annabel I went to the EGB Y. But Whoa, crowded? And now I can't manage to get out of the house, so I dropped the membership. I'm hoping in two years I can manage to get a part-time gig somewhere and get back into some semblance of exercise routine that doesn't involve laundry, sweeping floors of the everpresent dog hair or kid lifting.