Walking back from lunch today I had a conversation with another lunchtime walker about the weather. “This morning,” he said, “it was snowing a bit when I left the house.” (It was only drizzling and cold by the time we met up). I replied that after last month’s snow that blocked roads for days, I would prefer to put up with the rain and wind.

Secretly, I was thinking to myself, “T-minus three months until the pool opens!” I live at my apartment complex’s pool during the summer months. During the rest of the year I can swim indoors at the local health club, but swimming outdoors in the sun is a better experience. Each year I celebrate the start of a new summer swim season by treating myself to a spray tan using a mostly organic sunless tan solution.