Off the Deep End: Going Pond Swimming

| Allison

Hello, dears!

This is a sad subject to talk about, but the truth is… we are in our last month of summer. *SNIIIIFF* As everyone knows, summer is for swimming, but as not everyone knows, we have sadly only gone swimming three times this year. The only pools we have are ponds and streams at our new farm, and one of those ponds is a mudhole while the other is usually covered in duckweed. Yay. However, we still managed to get wet and have fun!

So, in case you ever thought about going swimming in a pond or lake but simply didn’t know how to go about it, NEVER FEAR. I have gleaned much wisdom from the past three swimmings that I’m sure will come in handy. *nods gravely* XD XD XD Ahem.

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We had been wondering if the pond was good for swimming practically from the beginning, and one day when the wind had blown the pond water clean(er), my family and I decided to be courageous and try it out. We picked a clean spot and squished our way in…

The shore is lined by cattails and duckweed, the water is brownish, and the bottom is, like, 6 inches of oozy mud that smells… a bit fishy. Maybe because there are fish.

Lesson 1: It might be wise to be the first one in, since after hearing other people’s opinions and seeing their expressions, you may not want to go in after all.

Since we didn’t enjoy sinking into the mud and it was pretty shallow at that spot, we went over to the dock, even though the water was less clear. (I really like this picture, by the way. 🙂 )

The dock is… heh heh, in need of repair, and also rather overgrown by weeds and scrubby trees. But hey, it held us up! We brought a ladder down to the end of the dock so we could get back up, and at last we were all ready. When I finally jumped in (after everyone else XD) the water felt wonderful! It’s like a hot tub on the top layer and a chilly pool underneath, which is kind of strange, but anyway. We were so pleased to have a “swimming pool” in our backyard!

Lesson 2: Mind over matter. You’ll probably be glad you did it later, so JUST DO IT.

The second time we went swimming, we bought more pool noodles, which greatly enhanced the experience since you could float for long periods of time without touching the bottom. 😉 In fact, the kids floated/swam all the way across the pond with our cousins, which was SUPER fun and relaxing.

Lesson 3: Use some sort of flotation device to avoid gooey floors.

Lesson 4: For ultimate relaxation, use several pool noodles as my cousin is illustrating below.

Unfortunately… that time we didn’t bring a ladder, which proved very unwise. We TRIED to pull ourselves up, since the water is a good ways below the dock and there wasn’t really anything to climb up, it didn’t work too well. XD After long minutes of vain attempts and much laughing and shouting, we were still stuck.

Finally one or two of us either found a rock by the side of the dock by which they laboriously made it up, or just waded through the thick duckweed and squishy mud and cattails to the shore (blech). Either way, Jeff came back with a ladder and the rest of us hauled ourselves out. Phew!

Lesson 5: If the pond or lake has a dock but no ladder, BRING ONE. Unless you can easily wade to shore because your pond is less gross than ours, which is entirely possible.

Lesson 6: You might want to bring a snack with which to replenish your energy. *nods*

Lastly, just the other day, our cousins were here again and we all really wanted to go swimming. Only… the pond was completely and utterly covered with a thick layer of duckweed and it had an even more unpleasant smell than usual. O.o

Buuut we decided to go anyway. Pond swimming, level 2 (or 3 or 4). Before we went in, we got a picture for posterity… only Maggie photobombed it and yikes, I did not do a good job with editing at all. O.o Sorry about that.

And then… IN WE WENT.

IT WAS GROSS. BUT WE SURVIVED. Thankfully once you got in the first time, you could kind of swish away the duckweed as you swam. Kind of. Sort of.

Carmen said, “Guys, why is it so gross? IT’S JUST PLANTS.” I guess she was right. 😛

Lesson 7: IT’S JUST PLANTS.

 

But still… we got green. (Picture credit to my sister Megan.)

In fact, Megan and I had a contest to see who could get the most green because hey, we were going to get duckweed everywhere anyway whether we wanted to or not. It was rather gross, so I shall spare you the full face shots… the cropped pictures are disturbing enough. XD XD

I think I won… which is why you get an even closer-up picture to compensate for the higher density of green. :[] XD

Lesson 8: Duckweed won’t hurt you, but it takes  f o r e v e r  to get out of your hair later. I had to wash my hair three times. 😀

And yeah, that’s as far as we’ve gone so far. The last time wasn’t as bad as I expected it would be, but still… I think I prefer to go swimming in blue, not green. 😛

So tell me, do you like swimming? Would you go swimming at our pond or no? Are you rolling your eyes at me because you’ve gone swimming in much grosser waters and, “sheesh, it wasn’t THAT bad, Allison”? (If so, I don’t blame you. XD) Also, what was your favorite picture?

Thanks so much for reading, dears, and have a lovely day!

***Allison***

P. S. The fabulous Aria has a birthday today! If you have a moment, hop on over to her blog and help her celebrate!

56 thoughts on “Off the Deep End: Going Pond Swimming”

  2. Oh goodness, that duckweed is interesting. XD We often go swimming in a pond, but it has a beach. It doesn’t have duckweed, but it does have these strange tangles of grassy who-knows-what that your legs get tangled into. XD 😛

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  4. AAAHHHHH I LOVE THIS POST, DEAR! IT LOOKS SO FUN. And oh my, the duckweed. XD Though, the last pictures were pretty cool. AND, I actually really like that one of all of you! AND THE JUMPING PICTURE! But oh my, you even got duckweed on your EYELASHES! Anyway, I loved reading your post and you REALLY should post more often. *nods* (and thanks for the P.S. ♥ ♥)

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    1. HA HA THANK YOU. IT WAS. Yeeahhh, it was grosss. But thank you muchly! I LIKE THAT ONE TOO! And heh heh, I know. It kind of got everywhere… XD Aww, well I’m SO glad you want me to post more often. I was working on a few other posts today, so if I get some back-up ones finished, I might just be able to do that! (Also you are most welcome. <3)

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  5. Ooh, looks like fun! I really like the duckweed photos. That looks funny, but I would not do it if I had to wash my hair three times…Well, actually, I would. I’d just wash my hair once and shrug the rest away, LOL!

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  6. That looks like fun!!! Lakes are pretty gross too, and I’ve experienced many of those! Imagine going underwater and getting tangled up in reeds and weird leafy stuff. Yuck. But worth it! After all, it’s just plants!! 🙂

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  7. Looks fun! (Btw, in the last set of photos, the water seems to have blue-green algae in it, which is okay to swim in but must be washed off [immediately] after swimming in — and must not be swallowed! Just a friendly note of warning/advice for future swims! 😉 )

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      1. It’s fun to have your own personal “pool” 😀 (You’re right. It just looked similar to the stuff that’s in the lake we go to, so I just wanted to mention it 😉 )

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    1. Oh, good question! Yep, she’s not on WordPress, but I think she has a way to sign up via email. You can also follow her on WordPress by going to your Reader, going to “Follow Sites” and clicking “Manage,” and then just copying and pasting her URL into the space provided. I hope that wasn’t too confusing… let me know if you still have questions! Also thanks so much!

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  9. WOW that is a lot of duck weed!! I loved the close-up picture at the end, and the one where you all jumped into the water. It looks like you guys had a lot of fun! 🙂

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  12. I would love to go swimming in a lake someday, but all the ones near me have alligators in them. Probably not the best friends to swim with. 😁 But we did go to a springs once and swam through a bunch of mossy stuff, it was so squishy!

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  14. Swimming in your pond looks fun but also gross! XD It’s interesting that your dock is so high out of the water. As I’ve mentioned before, my grandma lives on a lake, and it’s really easy to pull myself up on the dock there. It all depends on how high up the dock is, I suppose. 🙂
    To answer your question, I probably would try going swimming in a pond like yours, but I’d wear a swim cap so I wouldn’t get all that stuff in my hair. Also Carmen is really funny. XD
    ~Sassafras

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  16. Oh my goodness! THAT LOOKS LIKE SO MUCH FUN!!!! I would SO love to do that!!!! And I love your guys’ swimsuits! They’re super cute! Carmen’s comment was so funny too! They’re just plants! XD Haha! Your green contest is super fun looking too!!! It actually looks really cool with the close-up pic! But I can imagine how it would have taken forever to get out of your hair!!! All in all though, it looks like a very fun adventure! It looks like you all had fun too!

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  21. That looks SO fun! Can I come pond swimming with you guys, please? XD Despite the duckweed, I really want to try it now. 😛 Our pond is sadly much too dirty to swim in, not to mention the alligator. XD
    I loved all of the photos in this post! I thought that the up-close duckweed ones were actually kind of neat. Great post, Allison! 🙂

    -Clara ❤

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    1. IT IS! AND YES, PLEASE DO. XD Um, yeah… maybe you’d better not try swimming with an alligator. XD
      Anyway, thanks so much! I like those too, even if they are strange. 😛
      Thanks for the comment, dear!

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  22. Wow, that looked super fun and…green. Haha! I love swimming but never get to go *sniffs*. I think I would swim in your pond, hehe, and get all green too! Pool noodles are fun to “ride”, like you put one between your legs and sit on it and use your legs as paddles, haha! Have you ever used noodles as water guns? Hehehehe *grins evilly*

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    1. Hee hee, it was! Aww, that’s sad. 😦 Yessss, that would be great! And I love to do that with pool noodles! 😀 Heh heh, yeah, we’ve made them into water guns too. XD Pool noodles are great.

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  24. There is a little pond right down the road from our house, and we have been swimming in in several times. There is a TON of icky mud and fish beds, but no duckweed! 😛

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