Where is one place you dream about swimming one day or returning to?

I first thought to answer this question rather simply. Where is one place I dream about swimming? Well, an infinity pool in a tropical rain forest, of course! A pool similar to the one from Emily’s recent Costa Rican dream vacation. Amazing, right? 

But, the more complicated, personal answer to this question is that I dream of returning to the concrete in my childhood backyard to go swimming. Allow me to explain. 

The backyard in my childhood home was huge. It was about 3/4 grass, 1/4 concrete. The grass housed our magnolia tree, and a wooden jungle gym and slide. I used to practice my cartwheels on the grass. I wasn’t a very good cart wheeler.

The concrete area in the backyard was supposed to be turned into a pool, but my parents never got around to building it. I remember during the summer months, my brothers and I would get so bored. Back in the olden days, we played in this place called “a yard” and used this thing called our “imagination” to entertain ourselves. I would pretend the concrete in our backyard was a pool. I’d run the hose over the hot concrete, and lay down on it, kicking and paddling my arms pretending to swim. I loved the smell of cool water on the hot concrete. That smell is one that is forever imprinted in my psyche. 

Oh, how I miss my childhood home, and that beautiful backyard. I drove by our house years after my parents sold it. It was hard to see how the new owners had changed it. I’ll bet the backyard looks nothing like how I remember it. But, I’ll always have the memory of gliding along on the concrete on balmy summer days.