The Marshall House Pool

Summer time in Marshall we spent almost all day, every day, in or around the pool. When we first moved into that house, we thought that we had the dinkiest pool ever! But the Germantown house had the pool landscaped into the yard with steps into the shallow end and a diving board into the deep end. There was a deck by the pool for table and chairs and a screened in porch off the family room where we kept the picnic table. We didn't use either space too much as it was too hot! I don't think that we grilled out even once while we were there.

Johnny was not interested in the pool at all. He would only go in with me, if I held him. He didn't even like playing on the steps. But the girls were all about it. Beth and Becky could not swim yet, but they were happy to splash around with life jackets. Beth used to swim with one foot sticking up behind her like a rudder.

This is me and Johnny in the pool at the Germantown house.

The pool at the Marshall house.

But I digress . . . One day in Marshall, not long after we moved in, a boy appeared on our porch in swim trunks with towel in hand. "Is the pool open?" he asked. I was not sure what he meant. I repeated, "Open??" "Yeah" he said "when the Smith's lived here, they put up the green flag to let everyone know that the pool was open. Are you going to put out the flag?" I admired his tenacity and straightforwardness, and smiled at him, but said that the Smith's did not leave us the flag. He sighed heavily and walked away.