Truly ‘crazy’ Arizonans refuse to swim in September

I knew it wasn’t only me.

That’s why I love writing this column. There’s little I encounter that some of you don’t also experience, even if it’s a little odd.

Last week I wrote about how if you’ve lived in the Phoenix area for any length of time, you know 102 degrees in September is downright chilly for swimming.

“Amen, sister!” Jim Monachino of Buckeye wrote in an email. When he and his wife moved here from Illinois 11 years ago, they noticed how cold they got leaving 85-degree pool water when it was110 degrees outside.

“Compounding the dry desert ‘swamp cooler’ effect here is the frequent breezes on the fringes of the valley where we live,” Jim wrote. “Talk about wind chill!”

They’ve learned to leave towels and robes poolside to prevent frostbite when they get out of the water.

Bill Myones wrote to tell me his wife heats the pool to 89 degrees when it’s over 100 degrees outside. Karlie Roskelley won’t get in the pool once the water temperature drops below 86 degrees. Cynthia Jones is still swimming, but she’ll quit when the water temperature drops below 80 degrees.

Like me, Ellen Dawkins Waters, who has lived here since 1952, also packs away pool toys, floats and towels in September.

“Our pool becomes a lovely reflection pool instead of a sports pool,” she wrote.

Oh, sure, some brave souls still are swimming.

Ed Glenn, who’s lived in Flagstaff since 1968, wrote that he’s noticed the chill, too. “But it’s only for a bit when you get out,” he wrote. “So I also think you ‘flatlanders’ are a little wimpy!”

My friend Cheryl Gill, who lives in Wisconsin, wrote on Facebook, “You Phoenicians be crazy!”

Maybe we are crazy. But we’re crazy together.