A Tosa resident since 1991, Christine walks the dog, raises kids, cooks but avoids housework, writes and reads, and works too much. A Quaker and
, she has been known to stand on both sides of the political and philosophic fence at the same time, which is very uncomfortable when you think about it. She writes about pretty much whatever stops in to visit her busy mind at the moment. One reader described her as "incredibly opinionated but not judgmental." That sounds like a good thing to strive for!
No, I don’t know a thing about what happens to Harry Potter and friends.
But I’ve just seen the Hoyt Park pool bath house and the plans for the new pool.
No trench coats, disguises, and diversionary tactics were involved, so I guess the meeting wasn’t really sneaky. Denise Lindberg of the Friends of Hoyt Park Pool knew I was interested, and she invited me to join her there when she dropped something off this afternoon. I jumped at the chance to see it “first” and to meet Denise.
Having spent pleasant days at the poolside not long ago, I knew the changing areas, concrete with wooden seats and always damp. But like most people, I’d never seen the heart of the building. Few people, Denise said, had.
And what a wonderful surprise. Who’d have expected a big room with a vaulted ceiling, elegant wood paneling, terrazzo floors, a fireplace, and one remaining art deco wall sconce? The windows capture morning and afternoon light, and it’s a space that makes you want to linger a bit.
Each of us sets our sense of beauty and rightness in childhood. We spent a lot of time in parks, so for me, that means loving the big, solid, arts-and-crafts inspired structures built by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) during the Depression. And this place is part of that history, part of that tradition.
The plan is to preserve this charming space and make it a year-round community gathering place, a coffee house probably.
The pool plans are wonderful. My one concern was that the project would be too ambitious and overbuilt, either a frenetic attraction like Cool Waters or too posh to be supportable. It’s neither. There are a few amenities, but for the most part it’s just a beautiful, well designed swimming pool, with a third of the area set aside for lap swimming.
That means you might have to know how to swim a little, a good thing indeed, to be in that section.
Please go see for yourself: the Friends are hosting an ice cream social this Sunday from 1 to 4. I think most of you will be delighted.
