Reflected off the pool, the light of the day is blue, especially when shaded by a cherry tree in full summer leaf. In the high heat of the afternoon, where we’ve been maxing out in the mid-90’s, the end of my work day is marked by a plunge into the pool, but it’s so there is only momentary reprieve to be found. The moment you surface, the hot air is back in your lungs, choking you from the inside out. One can’t stay safely underwater for that long; the brain and the body require more oxygen than the coolness would provide. I’m not about to trade this inferno in early for the one I may be destined for later on.
Still, the water feels good, and my aching arms and back – courtesy of the cutting-down and chopping-up of an overgrown bird-seeded weedy mulberry tree – feel relief and release in the gravity-free floating that only water can provide. For that reason, for that ease, I smile and melt into the rest of the afternoon.
