Tyler Sharp
Stone Bottoms are Best
Backyard Watering Hole
Summers in Texas are hot; blisteringly hot. It is the kind of heat that can only be battled by a jump into the local lake, or a pool, and in this case, a stone bottom pool.
This pool was our Summer sanctuary; a serene, tree shaded, backyard aquifer that gifted us with refreshing Summer swims and shocking polar dives for over 10 years. In the Winter, the leafless branches and bright, cold moon would reflect in the deep shadows of this stone bottom well, being rippled and disturbed by the slightest wind, or smallest of insect.
When I swam in its’ cool waters, I felt cleansed, and renewed. Over the years, I spent countless hours in that weightless aquascape, and developed an elemental love and appreciation for it.
But then I left for a journey that kept me on the other side of the world for nearly 6 months, and when I returned, my parents were separated, the house and pool were sold, and my sense of home and belonging was gone. It took some adjusting to the intense feeling of displacement, but time passed, and the new homes warmed, and became just that, homes.
With a season come and gone, the heat of the Summer returned, and we swiftly realized that no watering hole lay in our backyard to remedy the Sahara like sun. We managed to occasionally swim in pools amongst our friends and family, but nothing compared to the cool, shaded depths of our old beloved stone bottom.
And though a few years have passed, I still occasionally drive by our old home, peering with friendship and love at the old stone bottom in the backyard, remembering endless summer days of careless play and happiness.