Rat in the Pool

On Tuesday, I herded four grandchildren to the community pool. After we were in the water about 35 minutes, a youngster in the deep end scrambled out screaming, “There’s a rat in the Pool.” He and his brother continued yelling “Rat in the Pool” over and over for so long that I was actually more annoyed at the piercing shrieks than the possibility of a rat in the water. Their horrified and embarrassed mother was first on the scene and assured the two high school aged lifeguards that it was just a leaf. The two lifeguards continued moving toward the commotion in slow motion, each apparently trying to be second to arrive. The mother began making eye contact with the other adults and mouthing in a stage whisper, “Don’t worry, it’s just a leaf.” She so wanted it to be a leaf. But it was not. I heard it was small, so presume the unwelcome visitor was a mouse. The 80 year old Club Manager arrived and supervised the funeral, sprinkled some magic powder in the Pool, and advised that swimming could resume if testing in an hour was successful. Our group left as did others. SeaTac Airport had recorded no measurable rain since June 14 and so we had the unlikely Puget Sound experience of swimming in a lake or pool every single day since June 24th. We were not desperate enough to swim more, given the imagery of Rat in the Pool!

Advertisement