The longest day of the year.
The pool is 90 degrees.
There’s a beautiful 3/4 moon out tonight.
All is still.
Me, I’m just floating around in the pool, a dinosaur contemplating his own mortality.

There are three neighbors around us who have pools; I think I’m the only one that uses ours with any kind of regularity. Late-night swims are always a good way to let the tensions of the day kind of melt away. I don’t spend a whole lot of time in the water – 15 minutes at a time, perhaps – but it sure is enjoyable, especially when the water is primo condition, anywhere between 84 and 94 is wonderful.

The sparrows and mourning doves like the fountain that was built into the pool. We leave it running a trickle so the doves can take their early morning and the sparrows their late afternoon drinks. On hot days like this I’ve seen them use it as a birdbath; it’s fun to see them splashing around. The fountain also attracts dragonflies – there were a pair flittering around in the late afternoon sun, fascinating to watch.

Floating around in the silence I can’t help feeling a sense of melancholy. It’s not as if I’ve ever really planned anything out, but tonight everything sure feels awry – physically, mentally, spiritually. Actually, as much as a wreck this year seems to be playing out to be, in prayer and contemplation God reminds me who I am, where I’ve been, and how far I’ve come. But I still feel down and alone and kind of lost. But that’s OK.

“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them.” (Isaiah 40:6-7)

Nothing lasts forever, so live in the moment. Everything around me is bathed in a ghostly, lonely moonshine – a perfect fit for this unforgettable moody Dennis Wilson cut from his wonderful Pacific Ocean Blue CD. Hard to believe he’s been gone for over 16 years now. It wasn’t just brother Brian who had all the talent…

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Pool temp: 90 degrees