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When we first started looking at houses to buy, I found this great property in Malden. The only problem? It had an above-ground swimming pool.
Kristian didn’t even want to look at the house. There was no way he wanted a pool (perhaps he sensed that someday he’d become the pool boy) and he didn’t want to deal with the hassle of getting rid of one. I convinced him to give the house a shot. It seemed so perfect. Besides, maybe we’d decide that we liked the idea of a pool after all.
We bought the house and we kept the pool. Just about two years later, I offered the pool for free on Craigslist.
Over this pas winter, we noticed that the water level seemed to be dropping. By the time Spring rolled around, it was pretty obvious that something was leaking. We took the cover off and there was only about 6 inches of water left. We’d always said that we’d keep the pool until it needed a major repair. And leaking three feet of water over the winter would seem to imply major.
Do I regret the decision to keep the pool? Not really. It was a lot of work (mostly for Kristian, I must admit), but it was nice to have people over for a swim. And it was great to come home from a run and submerge myself. I have happy memories of hanging out in our pool.
Does this mean that I’m sad that we decided to get rid of it? Strangely, enough, no. It was fun while it lasted, but I’m ready to concentrate on making our backyard as nice as it can be. I’m looking forward to having some more space. And I’m not going to miss the responsibility of pool ownership. It’s too cold in New England to have a pool that takes up half the backyard. There are ways to use that space that are useful more than three months out of the year. For all the times we had friends and family over to lounge by the water in the sun, there were times where we stared wistfully at the pool while the rain poured down and we shivered in the cold.
Besides, Kristian is already talking about putting in a hot tub!
I think a pool would be fun, but you’re right about the work.
They are so much work. That part is no fun 🙁