Saturday, April 8
What is this thing called mud? And why are our lovely courts so covered with it?
-A Gentle Reader
Well, Gentle Reader, our courts are unique in that they are flooded and frozen in the winter. In the spring, when all the ice and snow melts, there is a pond over the courts. This year we had a flock of fourteen ducks living on the pond while the water was being pumped out. Rain washes mud down from the banks into the pond where the duckies swirl it around. When the water is all gone, and our ducks are all gone, the mud settles on the courts, expecially along the edges of the courts near the banks.
A big part of getting the courts ready is scraping the mud off. We use a variety of weapons. None of them work well. Scraping mud is arduous and it is everyone's least favorite part of court reconstruction. (Did we say that it is arduous?) Unavoidably, a lot of clay is removed with the mud, and the surface of the courts is gouged and rutted.
The mud is shoveled into wheelbarrows and carts and lugged up the hill to a dumping area behind court 3. Later on in the year a contractor with a bobcat and a dump truck will come and take away the mud and dirty clay.
When the mud is cleared off and the courts dry out enough, we put the big power roller on the courts. The roller compacts the clay and squishes up the remaining water where it evaporates. When we can get the roller on the courts, we are close to being able to re-surface.
Enough for today?
Billy attaching the main to the watering system. New clay needs water.
Court conditions: The first coat of clay is down. Courts probably won't be open next week-end.
Joe DeBassio, Webmaster.
