The other day...

I went to the pool the other day. I didn’t really want to go but Ollie was there and hoping that I would show up so I did. I found his stuff and took the chaise alongside…three rows back from the pool’s edge…overflowing with young kiddos and their respective young parents…laughing, splashing and drinking beer — the future crop of the neighborhood. Teenagers in groups of two and three flirted and circled the pool deck…checking themselves and each other out, while the eldest of the community carved out the lap lanes…slowly, methodically making their way back and forth. I just sat there, noticing it all…three layers removed. Now I’m here , a couple of days later, sitting at the picnic table, listening to the birds and scribbling these words.