Another of those huge water tankers rumbled down our quiet street yesterday, en route to the street behind us.  There has been an inordinate amount of loud mechanical activity from that street so far this summer, far more than usual.  Some houses have changed hands, and some home owners of long standing perhaps have decided to take the plunge into pool ownership.

It has always been a source of great puzzlement to me why anyone living in this climatic zone with our short summers would invest so much money, time and inconvenience committing to the mess that ensues with the installation of an in-ground pool (without even arguing the aesthetic-destroying-quotient of an above-ground pool), displacing space and gardens.  But increasingly, people seem to succumb to this desire for their very own backyard pool.

And in this particular neighbourhood, no doubt reflecting more of the same elsewhere, there are a good many pools.  In fact, many if not most of our neighbours have invested over the years in their own swimming pools, taking up a good deal of their backyard space.  Taking up as well, the work involved in looking after it, and the ongoing costs of operation.  And occasionally complaining loudly about that.

Oddly enough - or perhaps not, given human nature - after the first exhilarating year or two of enjoyment, their use falls off sharply.  All the more so if there are no young people in the home.  Those with quite young children who have opted for a backyard pool are more committed to its use.  And it is among those families that so often disaster strikes when, as occurs far too often, attention strays from the child's activities.