If you sit as comfortably as this dog, I’ll tell you a little pool story.
As one might do in all kinds of ways for all kinds of things, Christian has assured that the kids have always had a pool in the summer, as he remembers always having wanted growing up. One assures for one’s children the thing one feels having lacked growing up. It can be like a little mystery really… Why wasn’t there a pool on the great big Palud property in Aubigny? We asked Mme Palud if she was afraid it could be too dangerous for her kids… she didn’t really agree. Instead, she said:
“Personne d’autre en avait à Aubigny” (no one else had a pool in Aubigny).
I think this was reason enough. First, it kind of rhymes with that observation Mary Pipher makes about the generation of elders, so different from our own as to be almost “from another country”: “For example, Great-aunt Martha’s concern about what the neighbours think isn’t necessarily superficial, as we tend to view such concerns in our independence-loving 1990s. Rather it is about respect and connection, about having a proper place in a communal universe.” (I made a blog post with quotes from Pipher’s book here.)
It’s that “proper place in a communal universe” that makes me think that maybe my in-laws didn’t want to stand out by making such an audacious purchase. And then I wonder, would it have been audacious? Maybe… In the year my husband was born, Sears advertised a 10 foot pool with filter for 79.99$, or according to this inflation-rate calculator, 480$. When he would have been 10, Sears selling pools with liners. The price for a 12 foot pool then is 548$ in today’s money, again based on this inflation-rate calculator. And then, I’m not taking into consideration the differences between American and Canadian money, or catalogues…
How common were backyard swimming pools? I’m not really sure… Pool and Spa News has a nice little history here.
“How many of your friends had a pool?” I asked Christian in the midst of writing this.
“One,” he said.
In the end, he thinks it might have been a variety of reasons… inclination, money, time… All of that brief divergence to say: check out our new pool! It is Christian’s pet project this summer. Here’s a before and after…
