The pool was closed on New Year's Day
Thursday's incredible shrunken workspaceCopyright 2008 Lydia Hinshaw
ORMOND BEACH, FL -- Tarps are God's way of telling me I'm too old to be a lifeguard.
Fortunately, my work shifts come in the middle of the day so I usually don't have to worry about the longshoreman-caliber task of getting the tarps on and off. On New Year's Eve, however, we closed early and a (big, strong) fellow lifeguard and I got to finish covering the pool after the last swimmers left. On New Year's morning, I took advantage of the chance to photograph our handiwork in daylight -- normally the tarps go on after dark and come off before dawn.
We cover the pool at night in the winter to help keep in as much heat as possible. This week, we had a brief cold snap and a resulting dearth of customers. When I got to work Thursday, our 50-meter facility had been reduced to a lap-pool. During my four-hour shift, just three swimmers braved the 40-something air temperatures and 77-degree water (ordinarily, it's 80-81.)
Not long after this picture was taken, my boss showed up and announced we needed to switch the pool around to long-course from its usual short-course configuration. A college team from Pennsylvania has come south for winter workouts, and there'd been some confusion about exactly when they would arrive. We had less than 90 minutes to get all the tarps off, all the 25-yard lane lines pulled and six 50-meter lane lines installed.
We got it done in time. I slept very well Thursday night.
Fortunately, my work shifts come in the middle of the day so I usually don't have to worry about the longshoreman-caliber task of getting the tarps on and off. On New Year's Eve, however, we closed early and a (big, strong) fellow lifeguard and I got to finish covering the pool after the last swimmers left. On New Year's morning, I took advantage of the chance to photograph our handiwork in daylight -- normally the tarps go on after dark and come off before dawn.
We cover the pool at night in the winter to help keep in as much heat as possible. This week, we had a brief cold snap and a resulting dearth of customers. When I got to work Thursday, our 50-meter facility had been reduced to a lap-pool. During my four-hour shift, just three swimmers braved the 40-something air temperatures and 77-degree water (ordinarily, it's 80-81.)
Not long after this picture was taken, my boss showed up and announced we needed to switch the pool around to long-course from its usual short-course configuration. A college team from Pennsylvania has come south for winter workouts, and there'd been some confusion about exactly when they would arrive. We had less than 90 minutes to get all the tarps off, all the 25-yard lane lines pulled and six 50-meter lane lines installed.
We got it done in time. I slept very well Thursday night.
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