The sun might as well swelled twice it’s size when you enter Austin, Texas. The earth is not scorched but it might as well be. heat would not be the perfect word to describe the burning weight on your back. More like fire. Like the sun itself fell from the sky and landed on every inch of flesh within reach of its rays. If I were you, when I arrive in Austin, I would find a sanctuary from it. But is there such Paradise? And wouldn’t staying inside, shielded from the sun, be quite boring? Actually, the safest place from the sun is not inside. When you jump into a swimming pool, you don’t vanish from the sun’s death rays. However it certainly feels like it!

First, the literal definition of “swimming pool” is a huge tub of icy water. When you first stick in your toe, there is a unfamiliar and very much cherished chill that swarms up your leg. You don’t like the cold feeling. However one side-the red, sunburned side- begs you to come in. And as soon as the soothing water envelopes you, you don’t regret coming.

Speaking of coming in, there are swimming pools all over Austin. I used to believe anyone who didn’t have one within easy reach would shrivel up into some kind of dry brown crusty thing. Although that obviously isn’t true, it is probably very close to the truth. If we didn’t have swimming pools I would spend most of my summer bathing in my fridge!

Once, it was a typical sweltering summer day. My friends and I were strolling merrily along our neighborhood. Exhausted and uncomfortably hot, we decided to make a brief stop at the neighborhood pool. As we trekked there, my friends noticed our singed skin. We had sunburns. The irritating red spots stung annoyingly. I was reminded just how scorching the sun really was. However, once we lowered our cracked, parched skins into the massaging liquid, it was as if they had never been there at all. In fact the pool felt so good that we decided to go swimming later that day.

The sun really is bittersweet. Perhaps where you live, basking in its rays is heavenly. But if you stepped within our flaming borders, it instantly changes. In order to avoid the vicious rays of the sun, while enjoying the happy blue and lush green environment, the swimming pool is the only choice.