After having been to New York so many times, it’s nice to be surprised. This time around, thanks to wonderful friends of ours, my wife and I had an opportunity to explore Inwood, at Manhattan’s very northern tip. Spanish can be readily heard in the area, and there are also many young professional couples with very young children. Admittedly, as in many city neighborhoods, there is a very noticeable divide between the affluent and not-so-affluent. While this is always discouraging, at least there is some interaction between socioeconomic groups, and it’s great to hear so many bilingual people. While it’s a vibrant area, it doesn’t have the ferocious intensity that you get in the midtown and downtown neighborhoods.
Our first surprise was the glorious Inwood Park. You’re greeted by huge gently rolling carefully tended grass fields, plenty of well-kept pathways, and an impressive Hudson river view.
Our first park stroll had an athletic theme. [Maybe I should have put this article in my training blog] A very buff, shirtless young man was doing some pull-ups. The personal trainer in me could not resist making some snotty sotto voce comments to my wife about his form. Lonnie laughed, and added that I should go and show him how it’s done. I said, no, I’m not like that, and normally that’s true. The chest-beating one-upmanship crap is so juvenile. This may be why people always underestimate my fitness level. She cajoled me, and finally, I said OK. He was so young and athletic, why not give him the benefit of having an elder show him how to do it right? I went over, and out of the corner of my eye, made sure that he was watching. In street clothes and with no warm-up, I snapped off 6 perfect pullups, well over the bar. I could have probably done two or three more with a struggle and/or a warm-up, but hey, that wouldn’t have looked as cool, and after all, I was on vacation; why work? So I smoked him, and it was hard to wipe the smiles off of our faces. As we walked away with bemused expressions, I could see him getting back up there for more pullups – he had to save face, and wasn’t going to let that old bastard show him up.
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