I have managed to combine three photo challenges into this one photograph.

Summer in July finds children counting the minutes until their neighborhood public swimming pool opens for the day. Although I no longer oversee the daily operations of these pools, I do appreciate the lengths leisure professionals must go to to ensure clean, safe pools with well-trained lifeguards.

All that training and preparation for the opening of the pools makes no difference to a child.

Child plays in fountain

Inspired by these photo challenges

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Published by Terri Webster Schrandt

Now retired, I am former university adjunct faculty, self-published author, and retired recreation and parks practitioner living in Eastern Washington State near the Idaho border. Second Wind Leisure Perspectives is my blog about living a leisure lifestyle that includes fitness, photography, and fun.

17 thoughts on “The Wonders of the Public Pool”

  5. I love that there is free fun for children of all ages. We live closer to a big playground with a free water park for the kids. I love it. It makes everyone a little more equal. Speaking of that, one experience that I will never forget is the first time I visited Winnemucca (NV.) They are big into community feeling. It was me, and my then almost two year old baby girl. We had enjoyed a nice dinner at one of the exquisite Basque restaurants there, and I decided to talk her for a walk in the stroller, before tucking her in at night. She still had lots of energy to spend. Maybe the chocolate that the sweet Basque woman at the restaurant gave her didn’t help…lol. Anyways, we ended up stopping at a playground. It was fun. We played for a while. The next morning before hitting the road I decided to let her play there again. Its as a popular playground. We’d only played for a while when two big vans pulled up, and people started unloading kid friendly food, snacks, and drinks. The vans left, and two ladies was standing next to two giant tables filled with deliciousness. They started inviting the kids over. Looking at the other parents they seemed used to this routine. I figured it was some community event going on. I kept my daughter on the side, since we didn’t really belonged there. After a while one of the ladies came up to me and explained that they they were there to give all kids a chance to eat nutritious food, and that they had plenty, we should check it out. Everything was completely free. Looking at the other children I realized that some really needed this. It was a community moment I’ll never forget.

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    1. That is really amazing! I think smaller towns do a better job at that than the larger metro areas. although many neighborhoods are very community oriented! We had several neighborhoods that lobbied City council to keep their pools open during the recession.

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  9. Five years ago we moved to an apartment with two pools (because there are 32 buildings in the co-op) and our children love going but how I wish we had known about this place when they were very small! The pool opening is something to look forward to!

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