Thursday, July 5, 2007, 6:50 AM
“The Forty-Niners Club”
Yesterday was July 4th and we went to the 49ers Golf Club to swim in their pool. They had put in a fitness center last year, and advertised on the radio for people to join for $49/month. $49 per month for a whole family, including children up to 21 years old, is a good deal, and the membership includes free twilight golf. I’ve never played golf in my life, except for miniature golf as kid which I loved. But I loved the idea of free extra benefits, and I did fantasize a little about playing golf there too. Those who love golf really really love it.
I called on the phone few days before July 4th to find out if they are open on July 4th, and if we could pay to use their facilities on July 4th. I spoke to Frank, who said he is a pro, just helping manning the phones, and the person in charge is Wendy. But yes they are open on July 4th and they won’t charge me anything to try out their facilities, just come on down. I wasn’t sure how reliable his information was, that they would let us use their facilities for free, since he did propose marriage to me on the phone. But the reason I had chosen it for July 4th, when the public pools are closed, is because it is way to the East and I wanted a beautiful drive in the country. I thought even if the info is all wrong, and we have to turn around and come right home, I will have a drive in the country and I wanted that.
Bill found it easily, and it was nice looking up at the Rincon Mountains to the East and the Catalinas to the North, it’s pretty out there. We saw the swim pool when we drove up, no one was in it, but I was relieved it was outside. I was worried when they built their fitness center they built an indoor pool. There was just one low lying building and the rest was the huge golf course. I had been attracted to it because when I clicked it on the web, I found out it was a very expensive golf course. Membership fees were astronomical, so I thought “this is where the rich people play, and it will be very luxurious.”
I actually liked it that it was just one empty swimming pool, and one low lying building. It was so unimposing, so unobtrusive on the landscape. Just this one short brown stuccoed building and deserted pool. Altho I couldn’t figure out where their new fitness center was, which they had advertised on radio. Bill had made me get out the extra towels which were cluttering all over the back of truck before we left, “we are going to a fancy exclusive golf club, we don’t want to look like ragamuffins.”
When that first building turned out to be all there was, Bill turned around and sat in truck in front of one of the entrances, and I went in to find out. I walked thru a tiny lobby, then the back of a very small restaurant, than thru an air conditioned weight room and then out a door to outside. I said to some of the alte cocker golfers who were just finished playing, “where is the office?” “That is the Pro Shop” they pointed “with the roof hanging over it.”
The sign on the door said “No denim! Only shirts with collars!” And I walked in and asked for Wendy, I was told she was in charge. And she was the woman behind the counter in the Pro Shop. She had short blond hair, was stocky, and was wearing red golf shirt with name of the Club on it. She said “sure try it out,” and “no, we don’t have to pay,” and “there is a guest sign-in sheet next to the towels in the ladies locker-room and she hopes I sign in.” And then she said “have fun!”
So I retraced my steps, found Bill, said “We're in!” and he drove around back to the parking lot and parked the truck. He brought his towel but I didn’t because Wendy had said the locker rooms have towels. We passed Wendy outside, on our way back to where I had started, and introduced her to Bill. And he told her how his friend John from the Racquet Club is a golfer and he suggested he join this Club, but John had joined L.A. Fitness instead. And Wendy said to Bill “Have fun!” and we both thanked her. And we walked back thru the weight room so Bill could see it, and we found men’s locker-room door on the side of the restaurant. And then I found women’s locker-room door. And I changed into my swim suit and went out to the pool.
Only one young woman was swimming, but she called out “you can put your stuff next to mine under the one umbrella.” There were a lot of tables by pool, but only one had the big umbrella open next to it, and it was hot. Then I dived in pool. Then a family with a lot of children arrived and began to play in the pool. And then Bill arrived.
The woman was doing vigorous energetic laps, altho there were no lap lanes. But for the past week, for some reason, I have barely swum in the pool. I just tread water and look around. I guess because it is now too hot to be outside unless you are in a swim pool. So all I do in the swim pool is look around and enjoy the experience of being outside, under the blue sky and hot sun, in the middle of the afternoon. I am just so happy to be outside, and you really can’t be on desert summer afternoons. You always have to be inside, in air conditioning, hiding from the heat. And I love drinking in all that beauty.
Bill and I had desultory chat while she swam her vigorous laps on one side of us, and children played on the other side. Then one of the mothers went up to the restaurant and came back with hamburgers and french fries for her little ones, and they sat around the table and ate it. And they played in the water a little longer, all the water games I played as little kid. And then she finished her vigorous swim and got out. And then the children got out, and family went home. And there was just me and Bill in the pool. I guess we had been there an hour. And it was lovely and so peaceful. And Bill loves the Rincons so much, and we had such good close-up view, and he told me all about the Rincons and the trails to the top.
And it was so lovely and peaceful being in this swim pool, way out in the country, that after we were in the pool by ourselves for another half hour, I said “$50 a month is nothing, I’m going to the pro shop and joining, even if we only come 2 or 3 times a week it is worth it, it’s nice to have this whenever we want.”
And I put on my skirt and high-heeled wedged shoes, and walked thru the air conditioned weight room, outside, and then into the pro shop. And asked the young man with 7 earrings in his ear “where is Wendy?” And he said “she went home for the day.” I said “I want to join, it’s only $50 a month, right? and we can pay month by month, right?” He said “yes, but you have to pay the $100 initiation fee.” “O” I said, “I didn’t know about the additional $100, now I have to think about it.” And he gave me a paper with member information on it, and he said “ignore that part where it says you have to spend $60 each quarter in the restaurant on food or drink, nobody is held to that until we put in the new restaurant.”
So I went back to the pool, took off my skirt and high heels, dived in, and told Bill “they want $100 for initiation fee.” And we dawdled around the pool another half hour. It was just so nice to be there, and I knew we couldn’t come back another time to try out their facilities for free, but we could come back anytime we wanted if we joined. “Big deal, a 100 dollars!” I said, “we never go away for the summer, we never go on trips, we never even get out of town, I’m going to join, I have my Discover Card.” Bill said “be sure to put my name on it.” And he said “then we can come back tomorrow.”
We had been there over two hours now, and were already saying what we would buy at Sunflower Market for our lunch. So we agreed to meet under the eave of the Pro Shop, where they have the ice water set outside for anyone who wants it. And I went into the Pro Shop to tell the young man “sign me up!” He said “only Wendy can do that, why don’t you call, her hours are not definite.” And I said “OK.” But I did think to myself, ‘I have tried to join twice now and both times it didn’t work, maybe it is a sign.’
But it still seemed very appealing this place could be mine. Altho this time when we left the pool we both noticed the hours on the pool. It said “Till July 31,” and it did seem on some days the pool closed at 3. The hours were odd and irregular, but it still seemed it was open at the time we would swim. But I wondered what August swim hours were.
There was no jacuzzi or steam room or sauna, none of the things other clubs offer. The weight room offered the most beautiful view of the Catalina Mountains, it would be nice to watch that thru the floor-to-ceiling windows as Bill was working out. But I had a hunch it wasn’t the greatest weight room in the world. The swim pool was old, and a little cracked, altho perfect for me of course. And the woman’s dressing room was just the luxurious powder room which went with the restaurant. Altho somehow they had managed to hook up one shower in the back, but it was just a shower nozzle, not a real shower.
Their new fitness facility didn’t offer much in the way of facilities. Its big attraction was for golfers, they could play free twilight golf as part of the package. However the only facilities Bill and I really wanted-- I wanted the pool and Bill wanted a weight room. And even tho it wasn’t the greatest weight room, to have that beauty to look at while he worked out. And it wasn’t the greatest swim pool, some of our city swim pools are far better, but it offered all the beauty around me while I swam, and that perfect peace and loveliness. Unless someone was a golfer, they would not leave L.A. Fitness to join this.
But it sure was the perfect way to spend July 4th. It was like being at a resort in the country. And I couldn’t get away from the feeling, that for our specific desires, it was perfectly suited for us. I just wish it had a better shower, and of course a jacuzzi would be nice. It is too relentless trapped in town all summer. And as Bill said, “we could join for July, August, and September, the big heat usually leaves second week of October.”
Before we actually went and checked it out, I recommended it to everyone. After we spent the day there, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, except for us. It is for someone who wants to spend the afternoon in the golf course’s swim pool and whose husband likes to work out. My hunch is we won’t wind up joining. That its purpose was to give us a great July 4th, and to open our eyes to ways to expand our life. But I’m not sure this will be the way....
Post Script, we did not join.
Tuesday July 10 2007
“Leticia”
We went to Randolph pool yesterday because Bill wanted to use the weight lifting gym and join me in the pool afterwards for a dip. There was no one in the pool when I arrived and then I noticed there was a young girl there playing in the water. I chose my lane, put my stuff down slipped off my skirt and dove in. It was nice to be in the water, it was blistering hot day. After I swam a lap or two the young girl swam over to me. “Hi” she said. “Hi” I said. I guess she wanted someone to play with, but I forgot that is what children want, so I did what grown-ups do, I made conversation. “What is your name?” she said. “Anne” I said, “what is yours?” “Leticia” she said. “That’s a pretty name, what does it mean?” “I don’t know” she said. “Is it Spanish?” I asked. “Yes” she said, “but I’m not Spanish.” “What are you?” I asked. “Native American” she said. “Ooooh” I said in a pleased excited voice. “Which tribe?” I asked. “Navajo” she said. “Oooooh” I said in pleased excited voice, “that is great, they are such beautiful artists and they are so brilliant.” “I can sing” she said. “That is wonderful” I said, “I can’t carry a tune.” “Can you speak Navajo?” I asked. “Yes” she said. “What is the word for love in Navaho?” I asked. She thought and said “there is no word for love.” “How can there not be a word for love” I asked, “it is the only word which counts, you can throw away all the other words.” “I can say ‘hello’ in Navajo” she said. “O good” I said “teach me how to say hello in Navaho.” Of course I already forgot, altho I practiced it 5 times in swim pool, maybe something like ‘tikrit.’ It’s a nice word, and it’s nice to be able to say hello in Navaho. Hello is a good word.
I said “you are bilingual if you can speak Navajo and English, I would have been bilingual too if my parents had taught me Yiddish, they can speak it because their parents came from Russia and Poland and it was all they spoke at home till they started kindergarten and learned English. But they didn’t teach it to me and my brother and they spoke Yiddish to each other when they didn’t want us to understand what they were saying. And they said Yiddish at us when they got fed up with us. ‘Stop hocking a chinik already!’ my mother would say if I was pestering her too much. That means ‘go away! get out of my hair! shut up already!’ And my father said ‘meshuginar’ when he was mad at someone at work. ‘He’s a meshuginar’ my father would say.” “That means crazy,” I told Leticia, and I made the crazy sign by my head.
Leticia was not one bit interested, so I asked her if she has dogs and cats. She said she has dogs and cats and a horse and cows and chickens and sheep. “Do you live on a ranch?” I asked her. “No” she said. “You have all those animals in your yard in Tucson!” I asked. “No” she said, “I don’t live in Tucson.” “Where do you live?” I asked. “Up north” she said. “In Arizona?” I asked. “Yes” she said. “Where?” I asked. “Blue Gap” she said. “Is that desert or forest?” “Both” she said.
I said “that is all my dreams, I always wanted dogs and cats and chickens and cows and a horse and sheep, you got all my dreams. Is there a place to swim? Do you have a pool or lake or river close by?” “Yes” she said, “a lake.” “A lake!” I said, “my favorite, nothing is as sweet as a lake, I love lakes.”
“Where is the lake” I asked. “It is right there.” “You live right by a lake! O Leticia you got all my dreams, I am so happy for you.” “Do you like lakes” I asked. “Yes” she said, “I love the mud.” “Me too!” I said, “I love the mud. Altho rivers are fun, I swam in a river once, it is so much fun to swim two strokes and then you notice you are a whole mile downstream. A pool isn’t as nice as a lake and river, but it is sure better than nothing at all, I am so happy this pool is here.”
“Are you visiting family in Tucson?” I asked. “I am staying with my aunt.” “Have you been to the mall and the movies, they are fun.” She said “I’ve never been to a movie.” “Tell your aunt the movie costs one dollar.”
“I can sing a song in Navajo” she told me. “Will you sing it to me?” I asked. “Yes” she said. And then she sang the most beautiful song I ever heard in the prettiest voice I ever heard. I can’t describe it except to say, it’s as if always in your mind is the idea of the prettiest song in the world, in the prettiest voice. And it’s as if your whole life you waited to hear it, and none of it was that song, but some songs have a little of it. And none of it is the same voice, but some voices have a little of it. And finally you heard it. It’s the song and the voice which all the others come from, and which are always trying to get back to. It is the prettiest thing in the whole world. Pure enchantment for the ears, pure delight for the ears, pure joy. “That is prettier than birdsong, Leticia” I said, “and I didn’t think there was anything prettier than birdsong, that is beautiful.”
The children started to arrive in the big pool on other side where there are no lanes, and Leticia began to look over there longingly. Finally she said “let’s swim over there.” “You go,” I said, “I like swimming back and forth in the lanes.” So Leticia went over to find someone to play with, and then the 5 day camps Randolph runs let out, or had swim time, so a gazillion children arrived, and I saw Leticia found friends to play with, she was doing the cannon ball off the sides with them. And then I swam a long time by myself, or dawdled around in the water, waiting for Bill. And then he arrived. And while he was fitting swim glasses and sitting at the end, I called out “Leticia!” I wanted her to sing the Navajo song for Bill, but she didn’t hear me so I let it go. And Bill floated on his back for half an hour, and dawdled in the pool some more. And then I said “I’m going to shower,” and I saw a young woman arrive and call out “Letty!” “What?” Leticia called back. “Time to go!” the young woman said. “Why?” Leticia said. “Time to go!” the young woman said. So Leticia got out, and I figured that was her aunt. She was older than I thought she was when I saw her out of the water, I think she may be 12, she had actual height, and was not a little girl.
Then I quickly showered, their shower is awful, almost no water pressure, and it was steaming hot in there, and dressed, and went to the car. And Bill arrived few minutes later. “Let's get Linda Feldman’s birthday card” I said, “it is her birthday.” “We can go to the art store in the mall” Bill said, “they will have nicer cards, something Linda will like.” I had planned to get Linda very schmaltzy very expensive Hallmark card, I wanted to express all that mushy love, I totally dote on Linda, I totally love Linda, and this was the first birthday card I was buying her. But every time Bill picks out a card it is the most wonderful card in the world, and I loved it that he was enthusiastic about getting her a card and wanted to be part of it. “OK” I said, “drop me in front of JC Penney’s, I will look around, you can go to the sports store and see if there are any T shirts or caps on sale, and we will meet in the art store.”
I wanted a new pretty skirt. But of course I had to walk thru pocketbooks to get to skirts, and of course I saw pretty pocketbooks, and of course I had bought two the last time I was there, and of course I said “I am not allowed to have another pocketbook,” and of course I chose 3 and put them on my arm, to decide which one I wanted. And then at the end of the pocketbook section, I put down the two red ones, I had bought a red one last time, and kept the navy blue one, I love navy blue, it had been the first one I chose. And then I looked at skirts on clearance. They didn’t have any new ones in. The prettiest skirts were the ones I got last time. They had been 60 per cent off then, now they were 10 dollars. One I had worn every day, the other was still in the bag. I wasn’t sure if this one was the same as the other, I had never looked that closely at the other, but it was pretty and I wanted it. I decided I would ask her to hold it for me while I went home to see if the one I had at home was the same.
The girl at check-out was the same one who had been there last time and she remembered me and gave me warm welcome. I asked her about the pocketbook first. “Do you think it’s cute?” I asked her, “and how much is it?” I had gotten it from the sale rack. She said “yes it is cute, let me see” and then she said “it is 14 dollars.” “O” I said, “14 dollars is not that much, but I just bought two pocketbooks last time and I have so many pocketbooks, I’m a girl who should not be buying more pocketbooks.” But it was such a big reduction and I liked it very much, so I said “OK I’ll get it, now let’s look at the skirts.”
She liked the tan one better. She said “it’s prettier.” I said “I might already have bought it but I never wore it.” She said “if you didn’t wear it and it has its tags and you have the receipt, buy this one, bring that one back, and you can have the money back.” “Can I do that” I asked. “Yes” she said. “The problem is finding the receipt” I said, “I’ll look in the bottom of all my pocketbooks.” But then I looked in my wallet and there was the receipt. She took it to the computer and typed in the numbers, she said “it is the same skirt.” And she said “if you bring it back, you will get $11.50 back.” I said “$11.50, that’s a lot, that would make my new pocketbook only 5 dollars, which would be wonderful, I’ll do it.” I said “the other skirt is exactly my size, this one is one size bigger, what should I do?” I said “it’s only an inch, maybe it’s worth it.” “Yes,” she said, “do it.” “OK” I said, “thank you.”
“What about this skirt?” I said holding up the other one. She said “it is 7 dollars now.” “That is a great price” I said, “I’ve worn the other one every day, but sometimes I don’t want to put it on because I’ve had so many emotions this past month, it’s been so up and down, and I wore the skirt all thru my emotions, so I like the idea of something fresh.” She said “the colors are dark.” I said “I know, but I have discovered when I wear the skirt in the house all the time it’s better to have dark colors, because I am always feeding the dogs or doing stuff in the kitchen, and it never picks up stains, is it worth it to get it just cause it is fresh, and I don’t look at it and remember emotions?” She thought and said “maybe it is.”
So each skirt was 7 dollars, the pocketbook was 14, it was not so bad. “You have been very helpful to me, I appreciate it” I said, “when I return the other skirt and get $11.50 back, can I bring it to you?” “Yes” she said, “I will do it for you.” “My husband said he was going to do weight lifting every other day, so I will be back in 2 days, is that OK?” “That is perfect” she said.
“You really helped me” I said, “you did great, I could never have done this without you.” “Would you be willing to fill out the paper saying I was helpful” she asked. “I would be glad to.” So she gave me the very small paper. I said “what is your name?” “Selena” she said. I didn’t fill in the top part which asks about the number of station she is at. I just wrote in comments that “Selena really helped me and I am so appreciative, and she was expert and sensitive and very helpful, and I am lucky to have had her.” And I signed my name and gave my phone number. I gave it to her to read, and I said “I hope compliments don’t embarrass you Selena, they embarrass me, altho I love them.” She said “they don’t embarrass me” and she read what I wrote.
And then I went to find Bill in the art store. He was sitting on bench outside. “I found two cards” he said, “they are nice, altho you can look at all of them, see which one you like.” He showed me the first one he chose and I thought it was fantastic, I loved it. He couldn’t find the second one with the wolf altho he looked and looked. So I said “I will buy this one I love it.” “Linda will like it” he said, “it has the cactus and the hummingbird and it is not sentimental and it has that great message inside.” I had planned to get Linda something totally sentimental, but this card was great, it was much brighter happier and more glorious than any sentimental card, it will light up her day.
I paid for it and he said “put it away carefully, you don’t want it to get dirty.” “I will take good care of it” I said, and I put it in the JC Penney bag with my purchases.
“When are you going to weight lifting again?” I asked as we walked thru JC Penney back to the parking lot. “The day after tomorrow” he said. “I can return my other skirt, she said I can have $11.50 if I do.” “Yes” he said, “I saw a red Wildcats T shirt on sale with the wild cat on it, that is what everyone wears to the football games, it was on sale for $4 I will buy it.” “I will give you the money” I said, “because I will have $11.50.” Great!” we both said.
And stopped and bought a bag of ice and drove home.
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