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Get me out of here!

By Peter Francesconi

In the Northeast, where I live, this has been one of the toughest winters ever. Record snows and prolonged cold weather have made life difficult for us Patriots fans. I seem to be spending all my time worrying about all the snow on the roof, leaks in the house caused by ice jams, and how much money I’m forced to spend for snow removal.

Not far from us, the weight of the snow caused the roof and the front brick wall to collapse at the Tennis Club of Trumbull in Connecticut on Feb. 1. Fortunately, the club had closed early that day because of the expected snowfall, so no one was in the building at the time. The owner, Ed Pagano, vows to rebuild the club, one of the most active in Fairfield County.

Of course, five months before all this, we had arranged to spend some time in the Florida Keys, an area we’ve gone to for the last six years or so. After considering staying home, our house-sitter assured me all would be fine, so off we went. And I’m glad I did go. As it ends up, tennis has restorative properties that can make me, at least temporarily, forget about things.

Over the last few years, we’ve gotten to know the tennis community in Marathon, Fla. We’ve made many good friends and come to know this area and all it offers. There’s an active group of players here — every morning many can be found on the courts at the City Park; in the clinics, mixers and Cardio Tennis classes that Tim Wonderlin and Chris Bull run at Sombrero Resort; on the clay courts at Sombrero Country Club; or on the clay and hard courts at Hawk’s Cay, run by Cliff Drysdale Tennis pro Sam Keenan. (In fact, Cliff will be at Hawk’s Cay in early March to give a clinic.)

We watched the Super Bowl with tennis friends Rod and Carol; met Jim for ribs one night; played in clinics with Mary Ellen, Alejandro, Werner, and Lorena. This past weekend, to the irritation of my RSI colleagues, I blew off working and played in a mixed-doubles tourney on the clay courts at nearby Sugarloaf Key. My partner Maryanne and I made it past the first roud but got dumped in the second round. But it was great.

And I didn’t think about the snow at all.

Peter Francesconi
Editorial Director

See all articles by Peter Francesconi

About the Author

Peter Francesconi is editorial director of Tennis Industry magazine.

From the March 2011 issue
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