Saturday, April 29
A revelation:
Now, we know that we've had monsoons and drizzles and downpours and torrents and mists. The drainage system has kept up, but barely. We assumed that we would do better. The backboard area has been flooded, and we've seldom seen a flood there. A couple of days ago we noticed that Longfellow Park was flooded. We suspected that we're getting a lot of water from Longfellow and we bragged about absorbing it and pumping it out through our system. We also called the City and griped. (We both bragged and griped.)
On Thursday, the City sent out a monster truck to the Park, with police escort, no less. The truck and the police partially blocked Mt. Auburn St. while City workers fed a huge tube into the Park's drain and sucked out all the water. Then they fed a high-speed water jet into the Park's sewer to blow out the pipes. (Where was the digital camera when we needed it?)
On Friday, the courts were much firmer, and the backboard had no standing water. The water table all around us is high, and the courts are still soft and wet, but we're starting to win, we think. If we have sun on Sunday and Monday, even if it is cold, we hope to get the lines in, the nets up, and the dare-we-say-it courts open. Maybe Tuesday.
A note: Remember to come to the New Members' Party on Sunday. The party is always fun, but this year's should be a corker: Bob Doyle's computer pyro-technics will be premiered.
The crew getting ready for Sunday's party.
Court conditions: Still too wet, yearning for a ray, or even half a ray.
Joe DeBassio, Webmaster.
