Above you see the wonderfully well designed Aquatic Center in Wood River Illinois. This is a great place for children and adults of all ages to learn how to swim or further develop their skills. However, when I was growing up this complex did not exist. We got swimming lessons in the old Wood River Pool. The place was not so well kept and most often you would find a piece of broken beer bottle the old fashioned way. Most often when the bleeding stopped you were able to enjoy the well taught lessons offered at the pool. I was always to active to worry about what they were trying to tell me. I had fun splashing and holding my breath underwater while all of the rest of the kids were learning how to actually swim. Still to this very day I swim like I being attacked by a shark. The worst part of swimming lessons were that they usually took place early in the morning before the pool was officially opened and in early June when the water is not so warm and the mornings are kind of cool it made concentrating even worse. I still believe that I am the reason that they over chlorinated the pool. I could not stand in the cold water for very long without making it warm. Hey, don't go diving around me. I loved the water and still do despite my lack of natural swimming or acquired swimming ability. I will never forget the days of the rough bottomed concrete pool, the weird kid that made his hands into binoculars to see the instructor better, or the pride I took in nearly making it to the edge of the diving board several hundred times.

Every summer brought about the wonderful days of the backyard pool. You know the little plastic or infalatable pool the every child enjoys immensely. Until the cousins come over. Yes, it was always a delight to play and splash around in the little pool that had to have the water replaced every day due to grass and dirt deposits. We had an even more nagging problem in our kiddie pools. You may have guessed from the video above what it might have been. Almost every summer our cousins would stop by for a get together. Every single time they did one of them would lay a treat in the kiddie pool. Every time without exception. I am really not sure why or how this was, but it would ruin a days worth of fun as the pool was dumped, bleached, and refilled. I for one found the tub to be a much more relaxing place to do the two, but apparently it was much more fun for my cousins to go outside when nature called. When my daughters were younger not a summer went by that they did not have a clean kiddie pool to play in and not a single drop of poo ever appeared there. Blessed I guess.