Wishful Swimming

J finally got his dream job! It only took eight months, but he got the job he had imagined he'd get way back when we were picturing this whole living in Denver thing in our heads. He's at a university again, which is great. We figure he only needs to stay there for the next twenty four years or so, so our future kids can go to college for free. Man, we've got this future business under control. He felt pretty good after the interview because the woman interviewing him gave him a thumbs up on his way out. He figured either he was in, or it was an unfortunate nervous tic, in which case all the candidates left feeling like they nailed it. Fortunately it was the former and we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief at no more job hunting.

My parents had a pool in their backyard for all my high school and college years. It got used a lot during that time period, and I think it's fair to say my friends and I not once took it for granted. After I moved to New York, they decided to fill in the pool, as no one used it much anymore and it was expensive and time consuming to keep up. I understood their decision, but don't think I completely grasped the fact that there would be no more pool. Forever. And now I'm here and it's summer and all I want to do is do flips off diving boards and float around on a raft in a private pool and I CAN'T. It's really too sad to think about.

I love the water. Whenever we pass a motor boat hitched to a truck on the highway and my dad catches me pining after it silently, he always says, "You know what that is, right? A hole in the water you dump your money into." Despite the odd metaphor ("hole in the water?") I understand that he's saying there are a million better things to spend one's non-existent money on than a vehicle that's only good for a select part of the year in select areas, requiring lots of transportation and gas and planning and vacation time. Also we live in a landlocked state and there are only so many boating options immediately available to us. But there's still a part of me that knows how sweet it is to get pulled on an tube behind a skilled driver (not just some guy friend who thinks it's hilarious to try to constantly flip you), how your arms and legs feel nice and sore after an afternoon water skiing, how relaxing it is to camp out by the water and wake up to pre-made breakfast burritos and more tubing and skiing.

I think the only solution here is to win a boat. And to find some friends with a pool.