Rain means slow days at the outdoor swimming pool of The Country Club. Overcast skies and cool, damp air deter all the fair-weather-swimmers. A lifeguard loses purpose at a pool with no swimmers. Optional tasks might be to squeegee water out of flooding bathroom floors, tidy papers in the office, or take inventory of lost and found items in the closet. My personal favorite course of inaction would be to climb to the top of the pile of white towels for a short n. Instead, I suit up for a swim, and propel myself through the fog on a kickboard. I feel like an otter. A squirrel running underneath the row of lawnchairs, sometimes pausing, captivates my attention. Heart thumping, rain drop dodging.