Return to Avalon

I found this pretty Williams a few summers ago. It was in a really nice neighborhood. I slowly watched it turn to murky and slip all the way into black water mode over a period of four weeks. I finally went over and drained it. I thought that it was going to be a great pool. Water removal is my specialty.

I had stick-tested the transitions and it seemed like a really good bowl and shallow. As the water was pumped out, the transitions appeared. It slowly began taking shape. I was pretty stoked. The neighbors waved and I waved back. I had an orange cone behind my truck, pool draining and cleaning equipment propped around it and nothing about me said: skateboarding. I had told a neighbor that I was with the local Mosquito Abatement department. So far, so good.

It took awhile as I finished draining the pool. There was a pile of muck at the bottom as fruit trees hung nearby. The fruit would fall into the pool and rot. It was a disgusting smell…  it reminded me of cheap booze…. from a terrible time in my past. I persevered. I gathered my things and left. It was growing late and people were coming home from work. I had been there all day long. I was risking much.

The following two weeks, I left it sit. The next Sunday, Jonathan Spooner, Zach Petschek and I drove over for a few turns. It wasn’t the gem that I thought it would be. The facewall was really whip-like and it was steep on the side walls of the deep end. We put trucks on it and had fun. I think that this is the most important part. You ask me…  ”Was it worth it?”  ”Yes. Everytime!”  I have one skate photograph from this pool… It is now a swimmer.

Thanks to Zach Petschek for the images. Skate- Ozzie