Where's the slip n' slide when you need it?

I have come to recognize that my last post was a little morbid and not for the younger readers of my blog, so what's the best cure for any sad feelings? Why it's slip n' slide of course!

The other reason slip n' slide is on my mind is because of the oppressive heat wave that the DC area has experienced over the last few days. There's nothing like wearing dress slacks and a button-down shirt in 94-degree heat in a car that's on its last legs without AC. And you thought I was way off base thinking the sun has too much power.

What I was a young lad in the tri-state area, there was no pool in my backyard for a few reasons. One, they're expensive to maintain. Two, we didn't have the space. Three, there are maybe 4 months when you could actually use it, meaning the rest of the year your backyard is useless. And four, small kids possibly around a pool isn't the greatest of ideas.

The next best thing to having your own pool is your own slip n' slide, which my parents graciously bestowed upon their wonderful offspring. What's not to love about this invention? All you need is some grass, a water hose, and the need to cool off. I'm not sure about the rest of the country, but the northeast summers are not only hot, but terribly humid as well, so it almost begs the title of slip n' slide kingdom.

My version was the basic contraption of a yellow strip/mat with a tube along the side that had pinholes to create a waterfall of well, what else, but water while you slid all the way down into a pool (more like a puddle) of fine spring tap water. My set came with a mini raft that I never enjoyed using b/c it didn't allow you any direct contact with the water on the slide. How am I supposed to cool off when I can't even lie on the slide's water?

Anyway, the slip n' slide was great. Once you unrolled it along the front lawn, you had to roll the corners around these metal spikes that you put in the ground to keep the thing in place. Of course, care must be taken to not place the slide over any rocks since they tend to decrease the slipping n' sliding part of the product's designed intentions. For you parents out there, if you use a slip n' slide on your lawn, be forewarned that the grass will be saturated for quite some time.

Of course, homemade slip n' slides work pretty well too and let you make them as long as you want. Some gigantic tarps on a nice incline, using an overlapping arrangement would be a sweet ride, just like the following picture.

There are lots of new slip n' slide designs out there for the next generation of poolless (did I just write "poolless"?) children, but they're all just modifications on the basic model. Sure you can be Spiderman or score touchdowns, but those really aren't needed as long as the waterfall works, the spring tap water is cold, and there are no rocks or obstructions underneath you as you slide down the front lawn.