
I have been putting off vacuuming the pool for the first time. I just couldn’t get my mind around how to keep the extension cord dry. Also, somewhere in the back of my mind, I was wondering about how air was going to suck debris from the bottom of a pool full of water. Welcome to the wonderful world of my brain.
This last Saturday, Greg finally got out all of the pieces for the pool vacuum that came with our Tuff pool. He set them in front of me in piles, like he expected me to naturally put them all together properly, while he could get on to other things. After all, I am the head janitor on our acre. However, it might as well have been computer components. And there was no electrical cord.

I was willing to be a good sport, so I asked where the directions were. A search in the pile of boxes and packing material in the garage yielded nothing. Greg glanced politely, and lovingly, at my blank stare and realized that he was going to have to help me. He showed me the scrub-brush attachment that is interchangeable with the net on the long pole. Then we carried the long-blue-tube, a circular-white-thing, and a-base-with-roller-wheels out to the side of the pool.
The first thing to do was scrub the vinyl pool liner. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. The brush was forced upward by my energy to pull it along. This was going to be a workout. Greg finally helped me finish. Then, he moved over near the side of the pool by the filter.

I almost stopped him when he began filling the long-blue-tube with water, but some past knowledge about siphoning popped into my mind. Hmm. That took care of the problem of needing air, but I still couldn’t see where he was going to plug it in! I could see that the tube filled with water might sink to the bottom of the pool if I didn’t hang onto it. I briefly envisioned myself reflexively diving in to grab the sinking hose, then realized it was only 40 degrees Fahrenheit outside and I was dressed in heavy sweats, a ski coat and leather gloves. I might stay on the bottom…
I slipped my toasty fingers out of a glove and delicately picked up the free end of tubing. Greg kept dipping the other end, then holding it up to let the water flow in and the air bubble out. Finally, all of the air was displaced and he stuck one end of the long-blue-tube on the circular-white-thing. “Interesting.” I thought, “I wonder if that attaches to the electrical cord.” Although I occasionally said something to offer moral support and express appreciation for his efforts as he got splashed, I mostly kept quiet, remembering some ancient proverb about even a fool….

It wasn’t long before he was placing the circular-white-thing in the skimmer. I had a revelation! It was all going to be sucked through the filter! I felt very relieved. No electrical cord was needed! When he hooked the other end of the long-blue-tube up to the-base-with-roller-wheels, I recognized the “vacuum.” I was even able to offer some help at this point. The circular-white-thing was not staying suctioned in place. I suggested that the skimmer door needed to be opened, so that the apparatus could go in from the side. It worked. I put my insulated leather gloves back on.
Greg left me to contentedly roll the vacuum along the pool, watching leaves disappear. When I thought I had criss-crossed it thoroughly from several angles, I lifted the roller base out, trying to keep the tubing from dragging through the mud that still surrounds the pool. My attempt to place one end of the vacuum on a patch of grass a couple of feet away was successful, but it kept snaking into the mud as I pulled the rest of the tubing out of the water. Next thing I knew, water was streaming down my coat sleeve. This was definitely going to be easier in warmer weather.
Greg and I laughed good-naturedly as we carried all the equipment back into that garage. It had taken about an hour to vacuum the pool, with both of us working on it at least half the time. The suggestion we had seen for pool maintenance was: one person should take 15 minutes a week to vacuum the pool. Of course, it may have taken Greg less time by himself. What he won’t put up with to spend time with me.
