I have been listening to a This American Life episode about delight. Those pings of magic are so precious-- the Lander Community Pool is like the Fourth of July of delight for me.
Kids race walking for flippers and then getting in trouble for putting them on (in their excitement) before they reach the edge of the pool.
The murals. Oh, the murals.
How this nothing-fancy pool produces state champions year after year.
And how those champions are celebrated as wood and cardboard cutouts for all to see in the lobby.
How Dylan is a cattle rancher on the side and seems to effortlessly keep track of our $1.60 per visit punch passes.
And Deanna is back from a stroke to coach water aerobics from her chair for a crew who knows the routine by heart.
How the hot tub saves us, time and time again, from chattering teeth and blue lips.
And how Lander kids visiting the Pinedale Aquatic Center are outraged not to be able to go in the hot tub there because they have been allowed in this hot tub since birth.
How Donna made her swim bag from plastic grocery bags, has too many great grandchildren to count, and had to stay out of the pool for a week recently because she got a hummingbird tattooed on her chest.
How Natalie, the Russian woman who cleans the pool, hands out Werther's Originals and buttons in the women's locker room just to be kind. And how her presence in rural Wyoming is so improbable that I wonder if she was an actual mail order bride.
No comments:
Post a Comment