The glacier melts!

[AnnaK]

As some of you may remember, our property is very hilly. We have two plateaus. The house sits on one with a small parking apron and a 20' wide backyard. The pool sits on the upper level, quite the climb from the house but the view is breathtaking. We had some late season snow and much ice here in PA and the hill between the house and the pool turns into a glacier when that happens. Six inches of ice are the norm and neither dogs nor we can get uphill without cleats or socks worn over boots. Four-paw drive fails the dogs and they have to stay in the lower yard. It's getting warmer now and the glacier has begun to thaw. The ice in the pool is still very thick but the entire ice floe is coming loose off the edges and I can actually wiggle my fingers in the water. It's like seeing an old and beloved friend again! With the changing weather come thoughts of opening the pool, of course. I find myself eyeing my travel immersion heater which fits in coffee mugs and am wondering how long it would take to warm the water with it. Likewise, I'm contemplating connecting a hose to the hot water tank and draining it into the pool. Or spreading some heating pads on the ice floe. The old dogs made it through winter and Marcus goes up the ramp to the deck now and then and stares wistfully at the ice. As do I. I hope your winter was relatively uneventful and I'm delighted to be back here on the pool forum where my summer friends hang out. Anna

[PopcornGirl]

Anna, You should be a writer! That was a great post.

Well, I'm jealous of your "late season snow"; down here in SE Louisiana we haven't had so much as a FLAKE in a couple of years now!
Of course, I probably shouldn't tell you that my pool is already up to 72 degrees and other than still being too chilly to swim, it's completely open.
I guess it's a trade-off.

Hope things warm up for you soon so you can enjoy your pool again! I'm quite ready for it, myself!

[AnnaK]

What do you mean, 72 is too chilly to swim??? We closed last year when the water dropped below 50F. Oh, ok . . . only the dogs were swimming, but still. I learned to swim in the North Sea where the water never even reaches 72. Of course, that was a few years ago. Sigh.

As to being a writer, thanks! You might enjopy this one: http://www.workingdogs.com/visiting_dogs.htm

Anna

[PopcornGirl]

Wow! That is a great article!
I think that working dogs are so wonderful! My daughter has a friend who has trained her dog (a Golden Retriever) to be a therapy dog and she has been a blessing to SO many people! They work directly with hospice and some local nursing homes in their area.

Wow! The North Sea??? Ok, yeah, that's a bit too chilly for my blood!
I can't wait until the water gets above 80... of course, in the middle of summer, I'm always looking for ways to cool it down; my pool is small (~12,000 gallons) and it heats up quickly!