Ozzie Ausband

Hudson

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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.

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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.

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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.

Michael Serna Jr.

Michael Serna Jr.

KB

KB

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Salba

Billy Rix

Billy Rix

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

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