I'm a fool for a pool!

Spring may have been cooler than normal for the most part, but it certainly went out with a bang, with the misery index reaching triple digits last week. I'm just thankful I got to spend the last day of spring at a real-life castle.

Just as soon as I remarked to a co-worker that we had been so lucky to have had such a cool spring, I was eating my words.

I attended the Tennessee Press Association awards last week in Chattanooga and five of us took a little day trip in the company van to attend the ceremony. The way out there was fine. In fact, I had to put on a jacket to stay comfortable in the back seat of the van. On the way home, the air conditioning seemed to quit on us, and I was sweating profusely, dizzy and weak, more anxious than ever to get back to Shelbyville.

I can only imagine the discomfort felt by the other four southern guys, all addicted to air conditioning, inside the van.

All I could think about was jumping in an ice cold pool and swimming like a fish for the remainder of the weekend. Since I don't have a pool I wondered where could I go swimming? I had chatted with a friend of mine over the weekend and she said something to the effect of preferring to swim in a cold river as opposed to a pool on hot summer days.

A river? Now I grew up a farm girl (well, my co-worker says a more appropriate description of me would be a Tom boy girly-girl, whatever that means), but I've not been too keen on rivers, lakes and oceans since I was a fearless teenager.

I didn't even realize my fear of critters in the deep sea until my honeymoon, five years ago in Mexico. We signed up for a snorkeling tour and departed early one morning on our very own speed boat, following our leader and about a dozen other couples in speed boats who were taking the tour.

I remember it was pouring rain and there was a thunderstorm in the distance, which I found crazy. I soon realized Mexicans apparently don't think of insurance concerns like us sue-happy Americans.

Normally, I am very much into adventure, and actually had a ball blazing through the ocean in the middle of a storm on a speed boat. I love skydiving, white water rafting (I've even been the one to ride the cowboy seat on the front of the raft), and I'd love to go paragliding if given the chance ...

When we reached our snorkeling destination, our guide gave us a few instructions and limitations and basically told us to meet back with him in about a half hour or 45 minutes. I put my mask on, dove under water and what I saw lifted me up, threw me into the air and somehow managed to land me on Jack's shoulders.

I was completely freaked out by all the fish (the little ones even swam right up and nibbled on my skin, for the split second I allowed it). I screamed like a maniac every time I tried to go under water. I just couldn't do it, and I almost ruined the tour for everyone else, because I believe the guide thought I was insane and should perhaps take me back. Thankfully, I managed to get back to the boat and watch everyone else as they enjoyed the nibblers.

A few summers later, when my brother was in town visiting, I thought I'd jump in Normandy Lake and take a little swim. The water wasn't all that cool, but Joe and I put a couple of camp chairs in the water and sat, waist deep, while chatting and watching all the little kids, who don't have the luxury of a pool, enjoy the water.

That lasted until I saw the big, bad shark swim up underneath my seat. I sprinted to the blanket as my brother laughed at me profusely, seeming to enjoy the creatures tickling his toes.

Tennessee summer kicked off last week with a bang, and Sadie Says summer is going to more than make up for the cooler than normal spring we experienced.

Growing up in the north, we had a pool, and it seems as if just about all my friends did, too. As hot as it is down here, not nearly as many families have pools as I would think.

Last week, I was scrambling for a way to cool down, so when my longtime friend Giselle Roche invited me to go swimming at her family's home in Wartrace (known as the castle) I was delighted. It was the first time I have been swimming in a pool in Bedford County since I moved here in 2002!

As we drove up the beautiful drive last Sunday afternoon I was immediately brought back to my own childhood. Children were having a ball swimming in the pool while the adults visited over refreshments in the shady gazebo adjacent to the pool -- no sharks included!

After taking a quick tour of the gorgeous castle of John and Rosalind Roche, and admiring their beautiful gardens on the way from the house back to the pool, I was ready to join the children.

Even though Giselle's daughters, Adriana and Iolanthe, insisted the pool temperature was 90 degrees, I felt a great deal of relief upon jumping in. As I drove home I thought to myself, great, not only do I need to convince my husband to buy me new appliances or, better yet, a more spacious home, now I have to convince him to find a place with a swimming pool.

I think there's a better chance of seeing a shark in Normandy Lake than that ever happening!

-- Sadie Fowler is lifestyles editor at the Times-Gazette. Her columns, Sadie Says and Simply Delish, run every Sunday. If you would like to submit a recipe, contact Fowler at sfowler@t-g.com or 684-1200 ext. 214.