"How can you play tennis in 30 degree weather?" my Florida friends ask. That's when I tell them about the times I've played in the Bronx, New York when snow was on the ground! [See photo in MY PHOTOS album] The only concession my tennis group at Pelham Bay Park made to winter was that we played only on weekends. We called ourselves, the Pelbay Polar Bears"! And we certainly looked like furry bears in our triple-layered playing outfits! We wore three shirts, three pants, three pair of socks, and thermal underwear covering our two pair of thick underwear! To top that off, we wore gloves and hats with ear muffs! We were prepared for whatever Old Man Winter threw at us. [New York had indoor courts, but in winter they were too expensive for us regular public park players.] So when we arrived at our courts after a snow storm, we would have to shovel a path to the courts and then scrape the snow from the one court we planned to use for the winter. Every winter the Parks Department removed the city nets. The first year we stretched a rope between the poles as a net. After that, we got smart and stole one city net to use for our winter play! Often we would have to chase off neighborhood kids who were using the courts for snow boarding or for playing ice hockey (in sneakers!). In 30 degree weather we had to keep our tennis balls warm. Once in a while they would suddenly become as hard as rocks! [Luckily, we had only two players over the years to suffer concussions from balls hitting them in the head.] So now when I'm asked about playing tennis in Florida in cold weather, I simply shrug my shoulders, smile warmly, and reply, "I've seen worse! I've seen worse!"
