Familiar Place

A typical summer afternoon for me usually begins with a rude awakening by my two younger sisters. We then make our way downstairs for the first meal of the day. After breakfast, the three of us put on our brightly colored bathing suits. Now if one would dedicate a few moments to reflect on the "bathing suit", what questions might come to mind? Unnecessary? Revealing? Unattractive? Why must we (well, most of us) conform to one designed article of clothing to just as quickly be submerged into chlorine soaked water? Following this momentary wardrobe change, we venture outside, excited to enjoy a carefree day in the sun.

My sisters and I follow our usual routine: set our towels down, kick off our over-worn flip-flops and dive into the pool. While pondering this pastime more closely, was our decision intelligent? I mean, thousands of people die each year by drowning, which averages to nine people per day. Who were we to think that we could never be one third of that statistic? Who gave us the idea to build a concrete bowl in our backyard and subsequently fill it with thousands of gallons of water? All for a little fun and numerous potentially fatal doses of skin cancer?

Obviously, most of us intelligent mortals are aware of the "deep end/shallow end" perception. This seemingly elementary knowledge is more beneficial than we sometimes realize. One might not be familiar with the concept of depth, and involuntarily dive into the three foot shallow end, to their death. Fifteen percent of children die each year due to the inability to kick their arms and legs to stay afloat (a skill that seems it should be second nature; you know, something like survival of the fittest).

A spring board atop twelve feet of water intended for potentially dangerous backflips and cannonballs? Many of these tricks often leave both physical and mental scars of unintentional "belly-floppers". The lingering red rash and the echo of the body and water collision doesn't seem to be enough to keep anyone off of the diving board either.

Putting these bizarre notions of uncertainty in a place that I have visited each day for the past eighteen years aside, the three of us take turns on the diving board and leisurely soak up the sun on our rafts on this particular summer afternoon.