A bunch of us went out for drinks today, and to my suprise, Alyssa showed up. I am crazy about that girl. Anyways, I was talking with her and the subject came up about details from childhood that for whatever reason have made a distinct impression and can be recalled with ease.
I remember going to the Sun N’ Fun swim club with my mom when I was a young kiddo (<8 years old). I remember many details surrounding this place. To my surprise today, I looked it up on google maps and the place looked a bit run down and the pool was definitely drained. This is quite the opposite of the lively days surrounding my childhood in Lubbock Texas. As we would go, I distinctly remember it bothering me to walk through the mens locker room barefooted. I think this must have been the first moments I knew I was a germophobe. The floor was cold and always damp concrete. As soon as I made it through the locker room, it probably wasn’t 20 seconds and I was flopping into the pool. I was like a fish in the water, and you couldn’t get me out. I know my mom would sit back and just watch for as long as I wanted to be there.
She told me a couple years ago that when I would exit the pool, I was always purple! The water at this place had no heating. I was frigid, but it apparently never bothered me. I would periodically get out of the pool and lie flat on the hot cement to warm up, and as soon as I had regained functionality in my fingers and hands, I was back in the pool.
They even had 3 high diving boards, and I can remember jumping off those all the time! I loved the thrill and the high impact and splash that resulted from the high dive. At the time, that board must have been 30 stories tall, but looking back on it now, it wasn’t more than 20 feet or so off the ground.
Another detail i distinctly remember is the snack bar.. I always loved it when my mom would give me a dollar to buy a butterfinger candy bar. That was back in the days where you could buy something from the snack bar for less than a dollar. I really miss those days. The downside to growing up was losing that time that was just my mom and me at the pool.
