It Started with this Stuffed One

 

I've been meaning to start a blog where I introduce the important stuffed ones also known as the stuffed animals in my life. But first let me introduce myself. Howdy y'all I'm Marci. Stuffed Animal Collector. Lifelong Competitive Swimmer. Amateur Endurance Triathlete and Runner. Bookworm. Writer. Aspiring Photographer. Washington Capitals Hockey Fan. Swim Lesson Instructor. Supporting Those That Learn Differently. Two Minutes Younger Than My Fraternal Twin Sister. Mostly Lifelong Marylander In MoCo With Almost Eleven Years Being Texified By BBQ. Proud UNT Mean Green Alumna Class of 2007.

But enough about the writer behind the blog. The first stuffed one to be introduced is the stuffed one who helped me through a tough patch during the Summer '24 Outdoor Pool season. Standing around 5 feet tall is the one-time Lifeguard Bear named Monty. He has a very long story to him in the before Summer '24 life which honestly is very complicated, so I'll share more about his Lifeguard Bear duties.

He was honestly the BEST lifeguard on the BOP staff in my biased opinion. He sat in his chair out in the warm sun and even the shaded clouds that was set up outside the lifeguard office. He watched the early bird lap swimmers making sure they followed proper lap lane etiquette, watched the swim lesson kids who were at various levels of swim abilities, listened to the music and chit chat that came with the water exercise classes, sat through family recreational swim, and made sure that the masters team got in the pool safely. He did very long shifts and didn't even complain. He was the happiness of the outdoor pool.

The summer of '24 was filled with extreme brutal heat so he was lucky to have a nice big umbrella to protect him from the sweltering sun that beat down from the early hours all the way through the hours at closing time. He made sure the open box of spare goggles sat next to him as so many swimmers needed to borrow a pair. Monty hoped they would be returned after use. Most of the time they were but there were instances in which the goggles went home with new owners. 

Between the outdoor pool staff, the usual pool patrons, the swim lesson kiddos, the water exercise ladies and even a few masters swimmers he was loved and taken care of. He had so many friends that greeted him and checked up on him every day that he sat outside. But when the pool closed for the evening; he sat in the first aide closet directly across from the guard office. He wasn't alone for those hours as he had two geese maybe swan friends to keep him company between closing one night and opening the next morning. There are many more Monty stories to share but there are more stuffed ones to introduce as I write this blog.