One of my least favorite jobs of the year is putting the cover on the pool. It really is an easy chore and takes just a few minutes. Why do I dislike it so much? For me, it signifies the winter season in Florida.
Having a pool in your yard is relaxing, even if you don’t go in the water. There is something soothing about sitting beside even a small body of water. That calming atmosphere seems to go away once the pool is covered.
We use a floating solar blanket for our pool. It serves two purposes. The cover prevents the water and pool chemicals from evaporating. Without the cover, the water steams off of the pool in the cool mornings. In addition, the dark blue color of the blanket absorbs what little sun that shines on the pool this time of year, to help keep the water a bit warmer. We also have solar panels on the roof of the house that the pool water circulates through. The result is, the pool temperature stays above 80 degrees on all but the coldest days.
Even 80 degrees is way too cold for most Floridians to venture into the water. Anything less than 86 or so keeps most of us out of the pool. It is easy to tell who is visiting from the north; they are the folks in the water no matter how cold it gets.
FOG sez: We get no sympathy from our northern friends when we complain about our “low” temps of 40 degrees. Hey, for us that is COLD!
FOG is a bit of a smart aleck old guy. 
