OPENINGS

This morning I made my coffee and stepped outside into the warm breeze. I am a pool owner, and like most Michiganders celebrating Memorial weekend, it’s time to drain the water off the pool cover and remove it. It's time to hook up the filtration system, get the water level back up to the skimmer level, shock the water (a heavy concentrate of chlorine) and take the polar bear plunge. Some traditions never cease.

Other minor inconveniences include checking for Yellow Jackets under the pool’s ledge; It's a constant battle because they always come back. Sometimes when you’re most enjoying yourself, splashing water and kicking off from the sides of the pool, you’ll disturb them resting peacefully in their homes and they’ll come looking for you. How long can you hold your breath under water? It beats getting stung. Also, leaks around the skimmer and fittings need to be fixed. There is always a price to pay for a bit of pleasure.

I remember the summer of 1993. I did a very foolish thing and almost lost my eyesight. I was condensing pool chemicals in the shed outback. The previous homeowners moved out that winter, and they had left all the pool chemicals for me. Nothing was clearly marked. I thought I was consolidating super shock from two plastic containers into one. As I stood over the containers pouring one into the other it exploded, a regular sandblast of chemicals in my eyes. The next door neighbor heard what he thought was a shotgun. His initial thoughts, "the new neighbor killed himself." I stumbled out of the shed and my neighbor directed me to the pool where I dunked my head into the water. My eyeballs were on fire and I was embarrassed. My neighbor asked if he could drive me to the hospital. I told him I’d be fine, and went inside my house.

The burning wouldn’t stop. Don’t ask me how I did it, but I got a bucket of water and a washrag and drove myself to the hospital. In the emergency room, the receptionist handed me some forms to fill out. Yeah, like I could see them. By then, my eyelids were pasted shut. I gave her my wallet and told her she'd have to fill out the forms. To make a long story short, I had lacerated my corneas and my tear ducts quit working. I had to use medicated eye drops as a tear solution until my tear ducts healed.

When I was able to open my eyelids again, everything was blurry, fragmented. Today's picture reminds me of that initial opening. I'm just thankful for the early morning sunlight reflecting through a spider web in my backyard. I'm just thankful for my eyesight.