The Neighbors Must Be Crazy

Man's greatest invention? The swimming pool.

This week has not been a very runner-friendly week, due to life sort of getting in the way. Between thunderstorms, loan-closing appointments, and family members with no power staying over, getting up at 5:30 hasn't been my priority.

Because of this, I had to get up and do something this morning. However, I knew it would be rough to get a good run in when I broke a sweat walking from the bedroom to the bathroom. So I opted for my favorite running-alternative--the pool!

Our little suburbia home came with the backyard, above-ground swimming pool, which we discussed taking down our first fall there (it takes up half the yard, and isn't exactly the prettiest thing to look at). We decided to give it a season and see how much we use it, and I will never, ever not have a pool again. There are some summer mornings when it's easier to stay in the air-conditioned bedroom, and I'm not very good friends with the humidity (AKA It hates me). While the round pool does not lend itself to very effective lap swimming, I have had some great workouts by running in the pool.

Last year, a family moved out of the rented townhouse two doors down from us, and this spring, the new neighbors moved in. He is a full-blown Metreosexual, and they (yes, they) are two Polynesian women. The women spend all day talking on the phone in a foreign language on the porch. I don't know what he does during the day, but at 5:00 in the morning, he's out with his morning smoke, all nice and preppy-looking in freshly-pressed outfit and shirt (but he doesn't leave for work, I don't think he does work). Anyway, the dressing habits of my neighbors are pointless right now--the point is that he is out at 5:00 in the morning. And the point is that I have spoken maybe a full 20 words of him (including "Hi my name is Maggie, welcome to the neighborhood, let me know if you ever need anything").

I don't care what he thought about me jumping in the pool at 5:30 in the morning and running in circles (being sure to switch directions every two laps so as not to be aided or hindered by the current). I don't care that he probably doesn't remember my name. And I don't care how it looked, since I'm sure one would not look at me running in circles and think "Good for her, she's getting a workout in!" but something more along the lines of "She got up to splash around?" No, I don't care what he thought. But I can imagine what he thought...probably the same thing I think about him being all dressed and ironed at 5 AM!