The Final Weekend Of Summer

While Labour Day weekend isn't technically the end of summer (although that comes only a couple of weeks later this year), it always has that feel. It's the last gasp before school starts back up (which, now that I'm tutoring, means something to me again) and it's often the final opportunity to hold a pool party, if the weatherman cooperates. This year, we're getting lots of sunshine and high temperatures for at least the first two days of the long weekend, and so we've invited friends over for both days.

Since our pool heater is still not working - on account of me not paying any expert to come here and fix it - it's been a bit of a battle to keep the water temperature anywhere close to swimmable with all of the cool nights lately. On Thursday I resorted to the method we used in the days before we installed the gas heater: solar powered heating! I've run a black hose along our black driveway, and am pumping water through it (from the pool and then back into the pool). It doesn't work as well as the gas heater, of course, but it does raise the temperature a few extra Fahrenheit degrees during the sunny part of the day. And it's a lot cheaper to run than the big heater!