It gets light so early these days 

that it's been a while since I woke while it was still dark.  

On the plus side, I got a bunch of weeding done even earlier than usual this morning.  The pool now looks surprisingly bare without all of the 2-foot weeds growing out from the "seal" around it - and the great news is that most of them came out fairly easily, with their thick roots intact.  

Next step, after I cooled off some and rehydrated, was to begin the slice portion of the project, removing the remaining rotted seals in preparation for fixing it correctly. I was somewhat worried that might turn into a major production, requiring a lot of elbow grease...

so was pleasantly surprised to find that the rubbery seal is coming out easier than expected... at least so far.   I'm at least 1/4 of the way around the pool, but it's already warm out (and there's no shade there this time of day) so I'm taking another hydrating break.  

When I go back out it'll only be hotter, 

so I think I'll try working from inside the pool.