The cocktail hour

Prior to this week when the beastly hot summer temperatures arrived, we had a routine that my husband and I did daily on the days I worked.  I would get home from work, greet him and Winslow, change out of my work clothes and then make a "cocktail" (water and lemon juice).  My husband would make his "cocktail" (water and lime juice) and we would take our "cocktails" out to the back patio where we would sit and enjoy them while we talked about our days, the weather, the news, world's problems (that we solved each and every one of them) while Winslow either laid by our feet or explored his backyard or would play fetch with me.  We would spend about 45 minutes out there (so I guess technically it wasn't a cocktail hour) and then would come inside and start making dinner.  After dinner we often went outside for another 30 minutes or so in order for Winslow to enjoy more fetch time and more sitting outside guarding his backyard.  Now that it is so hot, the afternoon "cocktail" hours we no longer do but do go out once the sun goes down for maybe 15 minutes so Winslow can play fetch if he so desires.  He will catch the squeaky toy or a ball for a few times and then he usually just sits and pants.  When he has had enough of the outside, he goes to the door and we let him and ourselves in.  I'm going to miss these afternoon "cocktail" hours but in the blink of an eye it will be September and a bit cooler temps and we'll resume them again.  

It is hard to believe but I have been at this present temporary assignment for one year.  I started June 7, 2021.  Time flies when one is having fun.  

This is our neighborhood pool.

Actually, I guess it is really 2 pools.  

The pool is called the David Uribe Memorial Pool.   

We have visited this park many a time and I always wondered who David Uribe was.  Out of curiosity one day I googled David Uribe and found out that he was a Phoenix policeman who had lost his life in a traffic stop back in 2005 just a few blocks away from where the pool is located.  When he approached the car for the traffic stop, he was shot and later succumbed.  Nice way to honor him by naming the pool for his service to our community.  

The City of Phoenix has 29 public swimming pools.  All of them were closed in the summer of 2020 due to the pandemic.  A few swimming pools reopened for the summer of 2021, this pool being one that was not opened.  There were complicated rules and regulations for swimming.  So many allowed in the pool, reservations having to be made, and the like.   This year I was hoping that this pool would be reopened, but alas, a few months ago I read an article that only 14 of the 29 pools would be opened.  And not because of the pandemic.  But because they couldn't find lifeguards to man all of them.  The city was offering incentives and training for those who wanted to be lifeguards and bonuses but not many takers.  So they could only staff 14 pools, and sadly, this pool was not one of them.  I had read, but I have not found any further info about it, that they were going to offer shuttle services from a closed pool to an open pool, but I haven't found anything to substantiate that that is what is  being done.  

At this same park where the pool is, every morning but Sunday, there is a group of men who drill together with exercises.  They always plant the flag there.  This group was only four men; I've seen it as high as eight men.  At the end of their time together, they always end with a prayer time.  (That is what our country needs more of, prayer).  

And finally, one must always include a picture of the corgi if one is sharing pictures.  

Have a great weekend! Stay hydrated and cool as you can if you are in a hot part of the country!