The Mets were losing 7-1 so I turned it off and switched to the Democratic Convention. A few minutes there reminded me of what I always knew, political conventions are just high school pep rally with better guests. The silver lining to this cloud is that I now I have an opportunity and motive to write.
On Sunday night I went to the Met game. When I stood up at the end my knees hurt, especially my left one. Walking down the stairs from the 6th floor was quite unpleasant. Alan, my friend with the season tickets I always go with, offered me Monday’s game too. I already had a ticket for Wednesday. It’s a pain to get to Citi Field but they were playing the Orioles one of the premiere teams this year that are filled with young stars. I decided to take it. When I woke up on Monday morning my left knee was killing me. When I pressed my left knee just above the patella it was quite sore to the touch. Something was inflamed, probably a tendon. I felt I was probably not up to going to the game. Alan said that was OK when he gave me the ticket. I had no need to rush the decision. I had a cold pack in the freezer and applied it to the knee and kept off it. I still wasn’t feeling great and hadn’t gotten enough sleep. I got a text from Alan around 2 PM and strongly considered canceling, but then I started to feel better. The knee hurt but the rest of me was fine I decided that I’d go to the game but not take the stairs. I took the elevator.
I was so glad I went. It was a great game. It was tied 3-3 going into the bottom of the ninth. We were discussing who was going to pitch for the Mets in the 10th. I said, “not to worry, the Mets will win in now.” I then brought up how I called it when Met’s catcher, Mike Piazza won the game in the 9th when he hit a home run of future hall of famer Trevor Hoffman in the 9th
The next player up for the Mets was one of my favorite players, their catcher, Francisco Alvarez. This is what happened.
That’s as good as baseball gets. On the way out I remembered to not take the stairs, going down is worse than going up. I saw the elevator, the door opened, people were going in. I couldn’t really run when but trotted. When I got there, it was full, but I decided to not be proud and said I had a bad leg. Some teens got off the elevator to let me on. Never badmouth young people to me. Remember how wrong people were about teens when you were one? That still holds. I bet I beat a healthy Alan out of the stadium, and he hurries. He hates being in a crowd. As one of the first people out of the stadium I was one of the first to the train. I always get a seat but last night I was one of the first few people on the train, I had my choice of seats. Then I got a seat when I changed to the D train. That’s not guaranteed. I was so happy about my decision to go.
My initial thought was to stay home and rest my knee today. Then I remembered that my doctor said it was best to get some exercise when you have sore joints, and the knee was no longer sore to the touch. It was a fabulous day, so I went back to the New York Botanical Garden. Last time I walked 6.2 miles. I decided to take it easy today and walk a leisurely three. I planned out a much shorter route. It felt like nothing. After two miles I decided to stretch it to a four mile walk. I couldn’t figure out how to do that on my fitness app. Whatever I did stopped the workout I was on. That’s sad, I don’t know the details of the whole trip. When I look on the app it leaves me at the Thrain forest. One of the things I was curious about what how much climbing I did when I walked the 6.2 miles, so I made sure to go to the lowest altitude, right on the Bronx River at the waterfall. I didn’t want to retrace the same path as the last time, but I went someplace in the park I never went to before. I followed the directions on this sign.
Do you know what portage means? The only reason I do is because it is used in the Lord of the Rings. When the Fellowship travels down the Anduin in their Elvish boats they came to rapids. They had to portage, carry their boat, to the other side of the rapids. That’s exactly what this portage route was. It goes around the falls and the rapids. How had I never go there before? I walked right by the river till I came to the historic mill from the 1840s. I took a side trip to the back of the mill where there’s a really nice patio with benches. Here’s the patio and the view of the river.
The portage trail leads to the bridge across the river that the tram takes. If I kept in mind my sore knees I would have gone that way, but I didn’t I had been to the lowest point but not the highest. I saw on the map that there’s a lookout in the conifer garden, which I knew was on high ground, so I went the opposite direction. That’s where I saw the Ents last visit. I made it to the lookout, a place I had never been to before but there was not much to look out on as the view was blocked by the tops of trees. I then saw an even higher point and went there. I love to reach the highest point. Remember, that’s how I broke my clavicle on Thanksgiving.
Then it was back to the portage trail As soon as I crossed the bridge it branched off to the right and headed back down to the river. The trail continued down the West bank of the Bronx River. This part was even better than the first part on the East. When the waters became calm their were places to put the canoes back in the water. Look how different the river looks than at the mill. The surface was like glass. I love the reflections.
The path continued past the end of the portage trail. As I walked, I heard a Plop behind me. Something had disturbed the water. I could see the circular waves emanating from the point of disturbance. There were bubbles coming up. Then there was another Plop. I missed seeing what it was again. I took my camera out and decided to record the next time it broke the surface. It didn’t. Was it a fish? Probably. Now that I started, I had to continue down the path. It continued all the way to the southern end of the Garden, across the street from the northern end of the Bronx Zoo. So much for my three mile walk. The entrance I needed to get to was in the North part of the garden. I turned around and finally decided to take no more diversions but head straight home. Why? My knees were fine but now my left hip hurt. You might say this is from being old, but it happened to me more often ten years ago. I think this is all one with Crohn’s disease, my immune system attacking me.
According to the app I walked 5.47 miles. In the first 1.8 miles, the only ones I have details for, I climbed 626 feet. Now I have to do it again and avoid resetting the workout.
My left hip is still sore. Tomorrow afternoon I’m back at Citi Field for another Met-Orioles game. I will try and take the elevator again. With me there to guide them they will win. I just checked, tonight they lost 9-5.
I didn’t blog yesterday and that’s OK. It would be fine if I skipped today. I’m doing this for my mental health, it’s silly to pressure myself to fit an artificial schedule. I’ll write regularly, not necessarily daily.
Wise Madness 