September 19, 2001 - 2:42 p.m.
St. Benedict would heartily approve, I think, of the discipline involved in maintaining a swimming pool. The pool here really isn't my job. Mike and I agreed when we bought the house that I didn't have to do anything with it that I didn't want to. But we're trying to close it for the winter now, and fighting an algae problem that won't let us, so every bit of effort helps.
Pools are by nature, work before play. You have to check the water, adjust alkalinity, ph, chlorine, etc. as needed, empty the filters, get the dirt off the bottom, sweep the concrete around it, and skim the leaves and stuff off the surface. If you have any energy to swim after that - go to it.
The job is repetitive. Every day you start in the same place: behind. There are more leaves on the water and in the filter. The chlorine is down. Ph is off. Alkalinity is nonexistent. And you have to fix it all, knowing tomorrow you have to do it all over again, because if you blow it off it will only get worse.
Swimming pools are a great metaphor for life.
