BY MAUREEN KANE
Peaceful, pristine, private, paradisiacal — my friends’ lovely back yard was to be all mine for two weeks.
At the last minute, their housesitter plans had fallen through, and they asked me to watch over their house.
This lovely spot held many cherished memories for me: regular pool parties, the company of special longtime friends, delicious picnics surrounded by the beautiful landscaping — it was a pleasure to arrive there every day and know that it was mine, all mine.
Not only was the pool extremely inviting, they had recently added a hot tub adjacent to it. Who needs to pay for a vacation when you have facilities like that at your disposal?
Well, that was the lure for a single mother who couldn’t afford a real vacation.
I thoroughly enjoyed the cool, crisp mornings reading books, petting the cats, smelling the flowers. Afternoons were spent cooling off in the 80-degree pool, drying off in the sun, with regular repetitions of both.
With my friends’ permission, I started to invite others to share my private "resort." My daughter had been with her father the first week, and she and some of her friends joined me the second week. It would be correct to say things were going "swimmingly."
The hot tub was wonderful therapy. Oh, the fabulous feeling of having the jets soothe away painful places — it was like a free massage.
Several people agreed and shared the healing experience with us. After swimming at night, we could warm ourselves in the hot tub. It was as if we were living the lifestyle of the rich and famous!
Things took a turn the wrong way the day the neighbor showed up. She asked if I had done something called "back-flushing" to the pool, and I vaguely remembered some directions about how to accomplish that.
Soon the water was 98 degrees and emerald green. My free vacation required me to hire a pool man to remedy the problem. Three hundred dollars later, the pool looked better, but not quite the same sparkling crystal blue as before.
One day my daughter and I woke up with backs covered with painful, hot, huge, ugly, headed zits. The doctor took one look and asked if we had been in a hot tub.
How could something so enjoyable cause such pain and discomfort? OK, now I had to hire a hot tub man. He drained and scrubbed the hot tub, refilled it and added the required chemicals. Two hundred and some dollars later the hot tub looked perfect again, and we stayed away.
My friends returned and I confessed my negligence. They eventually had to replace some of the plumbing for the pool — they didn’t tell me if it was my fault, but the evidence seems clear to me. They are still my dearest friends but they never asked me to take care of their house again.
Still it was less expensive than a trip to Hawaii!
Maureen Kane lives in Everett. She’s been a teacher for more than 30 years. This event happened in 1988. Time heals all wounds, and she says this seems a lot funnier now than it did at the time.
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