Thursday evening around 7:30, I was once again innernetting at the kitchen table. I noticed Pepper roaming around under the kitchen window between me and POOLIO. That's not unusual. The water dish is just around the corner.
Then I heard a THUMP. Or maybe a CRACK. It sounded like a block of wood falling onto the wooden porch boards. I turned to look, but didn't see anything out of place. However... Pepper poked his head through the porch rails, and started barking towards POOLIO. Or the woods behind POOLIO. I couldn't see Pepper's face.
Then something grabbed my attention. IN POOLIO! It was a squirrel. Floating. Slowly. A mere two days after Farmer H and Old Buddy took the cover off POOLIO.
"Hey! You've got a dead squirrel in POOLIO, and Pepper is barking his fool head off!"
"Huh. It must have got trapped in there, and can't get out because the water is so low now, and no ladder."
"I'm pretty sure he's dead. He's not moving like trying to swim. Just drifting."
"Well, I better come get him out."
Farmer H went down to the pool deck and used his net skimmer to dip out the squirrel. I didn't watch the whole operation. Farmer H said he threw the squirrel down in the woods. I don't think the skimmer could fling it in that direction from the deck. I have a sneaking suspicion that Farmer H pulled in the squirrel, and then picked it up and swung it across the yard into the treeline. He did NOT stop to wash his hands when he came in!
"You know those dogs will be on that squirrel in a couple minutes."
"Yeah. He must have been dead for a while. He didn't just now drown."
"I don't know why Pepper all at once started barking at it."
"Maybe it just now rose to the top."
That's even worse! Maybe it was there all winter! The water is murky. I can't believe Farmer H doesn't drain the water out and start fresh every summer!
My mom has an inground and we finally got a solid cover for it! I know POOLIO doesn't need a solid cover though. Soon Hick will be floating away in bliss!
ReplyDeletejj,
DeleteFarmer H just got this new cover last year, because the old one ripped during the winter. He's taking such good care of it! It's lying along the treeline behind POOLIO. I guess Old Buddy will have to come out and help fold it up. The Pony was here yesterday, and could have helped. But no. Farmer H just went mowing along, not even considering his abandoned new pool cover.
Oh Yuk!! I had forgotten he doesn't completely drain the water, no wonder he spends so much on chemicals! The filth that must be on the bottom has me shuddering. (The no hand washing too) There's probably an entire eco-system of bacteria down there.
ReplyDeleteRiver,
DeleteIt might be full of bacteria now, before Farmer H gets the chemicals to SHOCK it, then the other chemicals to regulate the pH. But once he officially "opens" POOLIO for the summer, there's a skimmer thingy that runs on top of the water, and also on the bottom liner, scooping up visible detritus and sending it to the filter.
Still. I think it's better to start with fresh water every summer.