swim

swim, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

the breaks on the water hauling truck whined as it came to a stop in the road. the hoses and pump lay waiting. this was his third trip with water. and it would take at least that many more to fill it. as the water poured out into the empty pool we circled the edges. our paint brushes busy recoating the faded tile. we worked that way until there was no sun left. but the water kept flowing. he knew exactly how much it would take. to fill it to the perfect depth. and he wasn't going home til he got it there. and he did. it was just as it should be. right below the last row of unpainted tile. we could finish the paint in the morning.
the thing i love most about the mid-west. not the corn. or the wheat. or the vast openness of it all. the thing i love most about this place is the storms. the way you can see one rolling in from the west. big dark clouds. that smell. the way the thunder rumbles along through the fields. it is exhilarating. you don't get storms like these in the mountains. but the mountains have their own allure.
we were asleep. it was raining hard and the thunder rattled the windowsills. it wasn’t enough to get you out of bed. it was just comforting. it went on like that for a long time. and we just lay in bed taking it all in. there’s no better way to wake. i’m sure. we should have been up. cleaning the pool chairs. it was summer. but there would be none of that this morning. the rain was taking care of it.
when we did get out of bed i went out to the pool. the water was such a deep murky green. it was a beautiful color. but not one you want to see in your pool. i reached in at the edge to measure how much the water had risen. i stuck in my whole finger until i found the point where the water had been last night. three inches. that’s not what they said on the news that night. but that’s what i measured. and that’s what it was. i guess we were done painting.
if there’s one thing that’s nice to have, it is a pool in your backyard through the summer. people love water. and the paint doesn’t really matter that much.