The inflatable pool is the official symbol of America’s lost summer

The inflatable(inˈflādəb(ə)l) pool is the official(əˈfiSHəl) symbol of America’s lost summer

By Maura Judkis

On a hot summer day, Trent Theiler loves nothing more than going to his apartment’s rooftop(ˈro͞ofˌtäp) with a cold(kōld) beverage and lowering himself into the pool.

Or, at least the parts of him that fit in it.

Theiler is a 6-foot-2-inch, 33-year-old man. The pool is an inflatable frog-shaped children’s wading(wād) pool that holds about four inches of water. It is smaller than his torso(ˈtôrsō). The water soaks(sōk) his backside and little else, but Thieler has to take relief(rəˈlēf) where he can get it.

Such is life in America, in July(jəˈlī), in a pandemic.

Two of his friends bought matching frog kiddie(ˈkidē) pools, and, most weekends, the three of them sit in their separate(ˈsep(ə)rət) pools together. The group has started calling their pool cluster the “Ribbit(ˈribit) Rooftop Cantina(kanˈtēnə).” A few feet away is their D.C. apartment building’s actual swimming pool, which is covered and closed for the season because of the novel(ˈnävəl) coronavirus.

“I thought it would be a little bit bigger just from the picture,” Theiler said of his kiddie-sized replacement. “You know, it was kind of a bummer(ˈbəmər). But, I mean, a little bit of water is better than nothing.”

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-inflatable-pool-is-the-official-symbol-americas-lost-summer/2020/07/17/4d80fcfa-c542-11ea-b037-f9711f89ee46_story.html