Rain or shine

It's Saturday morning and guess where I am? Yes, I am under the umbrella on the pool deck, clipboard and pen at the ready, set to perform my team rep duties for our 4th Saturday meet. 

Today, the umbrella is here not for shade but for protection against the rain. Yes it's raining and swim meets proceed, rain or shine. As long as there’s no thunder or lightning, we swim. But it's a pleasant light summer rain, and the sky is beginning to lighten a bit so it might clear up. And if it doesn't, I will just stay under the umbrella. 

Last week my son told me that he needed to get Speedo briefs. He has always worn jammers but apparently the extra four inches of fabric is slowing him down. He didn't tell me that he was buying a bright pink Speedo but smart people don't generally come to me for fashion advice. He and the other pink Speedo-clad 15-18 boys were easy to spot. 

*****

Well, a monsoon is better than a drought, am I right? It’s Sunday morning now and it occurs to me that I shouldn’t have written (or even thought) that the sky seemed to be clearing and that the rain might end because of course it poured after that. Actually, “poured” is an exaggeration. It just went from mist to drizzle to almost no rain to steady rain that continued for the rest of the meet, and that steady rain, falling on top of the almost four inches that had come down since Friday night, left everything and everyone completely saturated. No thunder, and no lightning, and the meet ended in a victory. Afterward, we waded through ankle-deep mud to retrieve deck chairs and move them back to the pool deck. 

The rain slowed to a drizzle again, and although the day continued cloudy and April-cool, I wanted to swim because I always want to swim. But when I returned, the pool was deserted. Even the pool rat little kids who swim no matter what were not swimming yesterday. So I went home, which is a nice place to be on a rainy afternoon. It’s sunny and warm today.