Chlorine in the Falls

Posted on July 16, 2002 in Neighborhood

Raccoons, skunks, and coyotes come to drink the waters from the pool out at the entrance to our development. They hunch on the imported, cemented rocks. Occasionally a jogger or a dog disturbs a skunk and the whole neighborhood pays. The rancid nut-odor lingers for many hours. But today, as I walked out to my truck to spend the afternoon cursing at the page at Tully’s, the odor was that of chlorine. The wildlife won’t drink of our pond for a few days. The gardeners polluted it, probably to kill the bacteria. The scent drifts down over the emerald lawn and down the oiled street to our condo. I sigh and think of the gold fish that could be there instead of the stink of anti-bacterial paranoia.