Maybe Next Year

The weather had been unseasonably warm that week. It wasn’t even April yet and the temperatures had almost reached 90 degrees. It was way too warm. I was way too hot. It was going to be a long summer if these temperatures kept up. That was okay though, because this summer was the summer I was planning on putting in the swimming pool.

I had spent the past week, Spring Break week, working in the back yard to get it ready for the kidney shaped pool with a slide and water fall over a wall of faux rocks. I racked leaves, trimmed trees, and removed that Forsythia bush that had overtaken a whole corner of the yard. I was going to miss the bright yellow from its flowers, but the bush had simply become too big and it was taking up too much space.

I even started a vegetable garden for my wife. Nothing crazy, just a salsa garden as my wife called it. Tomatoes, onions, jalapeno peppers, and cilantro. I was worried it was already too late in the season for the onions to go in the ground, but planted a row anyway. I watered the small plot of dirt in the very back of the yard and hoped for the best.

One day, as I was taking a break from my work, I studied the undeveloped woods behind our house and debated about clearing some of the underbrush. As I looked at the overgrowth and wild berry bushes, sweat dripped into my eyes. The burning made me tear up a bit. I wiped the sweat from my face and felt the scar that ran down my cheek. The heat made it throb a little. It was a fairly recent addition and was a bit tender to the touch. I decided the woods could wait.

By Thursday of that week, the back yard looked pretty good. I still had a couple of days of vacation left before I went back to work at the high school. After Spring Break my student’s ability to focus on anything mathematical was next to nothing. Working several years as the algebra teacher, I had learned to scale things back for the remaining couple of months of the school year. By this time of year, the Juniors were dreaming of becoming Seniors and the Seniors had mentally checked out. Who needs algebra anyways, right?

That morning I was going to start on the pool. The heat was already 90 degrees at nine o’clock. I couldn’t do it. I needed a break from the heat so I decided to drive over to the winery in the next town. They were supposed to have an award-winning grape variety that I never heard of – Tannat. The thought of enjoying a glass or two of good quality wine outweighed the thought of more work in the heat.

The street that led out of the neighborhood ran alongside the woods that were behind my house. As I drove to the winery, I thought I noticed movement in the shadows. A big black shadow. I looked closer but could not make anything out. The heat must be playing games with my vision.

I returned home after enjoying several varieties of wines, including the Tannat which is now my new favorite. It was late in the afternoon and I decided I would take a nap. The swimming pool had to wait until the next day.

After my nap, it was time for dinner. We didn’t have much in the refrigerator and I did not feel like making anything too difficult or time consuming. I knew we had tortilla chips and queso, so I decided to make nachos. I wanted to add ground beef to the queso, so I turned on the burner and started to brown the ground beef. Something must have dripped on the stove top, because within minutes there was a thick smoke coming from the burners. I turned on the ceiling fan in the den and opened the back door to help ventilate the smoke outside.

I left the door open while I sat down to eat my nachos. It was then that a black bear wondered in to the kitchen from the woods behind me house. I was scared and did not know what to do so I sat still. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to me at the table and took my nachos! He ate them quickly and looked at me seemingly asking if there were any more. When I did not move, he huffed a big sigh, got up and went to the sink to wash his hands. I could not believe it! A black bear ate my nachos and then washed his hands in the sink. Who could believe this?

“So, are you saying that the bear is the reason we don’t have a pool?” asked my matter-of-fact six-year-old son.

“Yes, exactly. That is why we don’t have a pool in the back yard,” I answered. I could tell he wasn’t buying my story, but he was at least playing along.

“A bear ate your nachos? That’s not nice!” exclaimed my three-year daughter. I could tell even at such a young age, she doubted the story as well but wasn’t quite sure.

My son let out a long laugh. “A bear didn’t eat Dad’s nachos, Libby”

“Yes, he did. He sat right where you are sitting,” I responded. “I was hungry too, and he just took them.”

“A bear ate your nachos?” asked my son incredulously.

“Yup, lucky I am even alive. Last time I got this,” I was pointing the scar on my cheek. “I think it was the same bear.”

Now both children were looking at me, not sure what to think.

“Now finish your PB and J sandwiches. I will take you both to get snow cones after you are done.”

We all ate our sandwiches in silence for a few moments.

“Does Mom know a bear ate your nachos?” asked my daughter, obviously still processing the story.

“She sure does, ask her when she gets home. She will tell you,” I replied.

“So, does this mean we aren’t going to have pool?” asked my son, getting to the crux of the matter.

“Afraid so. He might come back and think he could go for a swim. Can’t have that,” I answered. “He probably doesn’t even have a swim suit.”

My daughter giggled at the picture of a black bear in a swim suit. My son just rolled his eyes.

“Come on, let’s go get snow cones,” I said and we finished our sandwiches.

“Yay,” exclaimed my daughter.

“All right!” yelled my son.

I smiled, proud of myself for coming up with such a story, but more so for this time with the kids.

Maybe next year we will have a pool with a slide and a water fall.