Hudson

Ranch style home. Disused. It sat and sat. The neighborhood was nice. I drove by periodically from the summer when I initially found it, straight through into winter. Always abandoned. Foreclosure. I just couldn’t figure out a good time to drain it. I had climbed over the wall and unscrewed the gate latch for easier access. I propped a soda can against the inside of the gate before climbing back out. If someone came, they’d inadvertently move it on entering and be none the wiser… but I’d know. I rechecked the pool in a week. Soda can still in place. Things looked good. Christmas morning dawned early. I made eggs and coffee. I sat there looking out at Ridiculous and figured that this morning would be the perfect morning to drain the Hudson pool. I’m unsure as to my logic…  but I rolled with it. I loaded the truck with pumps and tools. Within minutes, I was backed into the driveway. I unloaded hoses and buckets. I purposefully left them in front of the truck on the driveway. Plain view. If a neighbor looked out and saw me, they’d see the hoses and figure I was just a pool guy working… Maybe they wouldn’t be bothered. At least it would remove any suspicion as to my truck being there. At the very least, they’d assume I wasn’t a burglar. I started draining.

I ran the hoses. Damn! They wouldn’t reach the sloping driveway. I was about twenty feet short. Not to be deterred, I rummaged around and found some long aluminum rain gutters on the side of the house. I put these end inside of end and ran the hoses to the edge. Perfect. The water started flowing…. Hours went by. No one but me. Quiet.

The following week, we drove over. We decided to keep it a ten minute pool. In and out. We rolled in. If I recall, it was Serna Jr, Brandon, KB, Badlands Chris, Salba, Billy and myself. Everyone charged and lines were abundant. Fun was found.

The pool was quickly lost to us. The next weekend, I drove over. Dusk. Friday evening… Trash cans were moved. Suspicion. I quickly saw that a new hasp and lock had been installed. Its days were numbered… We rode it one more time and that would be that. Within weeks, a new lawn was installed and people were living there. I asked about skating it. I received a brusque response that isn’t worth printing… such is life. Thanks to Brandon Wong for some of the images. Skate- Ozzie