Treat Yourself

It's the height of the season and it's understandable that you may not be inclined to take a pause in your busy day to read this issue cover-to-cover. But if you can find a few minutes and a cool shady spot, you'll find that the staff at AQUA isn't on summer vacation yet.

You may have been too busy to turn on the television, but if you did manage to catch a few minutes in late spring, you couldn't help hear about one (fairly prominent) family's campaign to make pools and spas safer following a tragedy that took a young member of their clan. Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and his former daughter-in-law, Nancy Baker, appeared on the morning news programs and evening talk shows in the days leading up to a Senate hearing where Mrs. Baker and representatives from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Safe Kids USA and the APSP testified before senators.

If you're a news junkie like I am, you may have watched the hearings live, as managing editor Barrett Kilmer and I did. But if you were out in the field or on the showroom floor, Barrett's article on safety and his coverage of the hearings will tell you all you need to know about pending pool safety legislation at the federal level.

Consumer magazines like Garden Design and Horticulture , which both featured editorial packages about natural swimming pools, will pique consumers' interest in the pool-pond hybrids. Not to worry, Becky Strauss's article on "swimming ponds" will help you decide if it makes sense for you to build them.

This issue is packed full of useful information you can use now, from technical how-tos to marketing ideas, so see if you can't make some time in your busy schedule to treat yourself to this issue of AQUA.