The first time I saw him, I thought he was dead.
I was in full flight, at 6 a.m. before coming to a full stop.
When I approached him, we both jumped.
“Oh, you’re okay,” I say, grateful I didn’t have to call 911 to report a body since, dammit it all, talk about being late. Hey, I’m a New Yorker after all, we think in practical terms, plus what’s a body first thing in the morning (I’m joking).
“Buenos dias,” he says, as if he were expecting me.
“And to you too, and if you don’t mind me asking, what are doing in the dark lying on the ground. Are you sick?”
And he says, “No, I do you-ga.”
Turns out this small, squat built like a bullet Latino, all of 20, was merely in corpse pose. That’s when you lie flat on your back, arms at your side, but in his case, still breathing.
“Okay then,” I say, taking off.
He has now become a fixture on my morning run. Sometimes he’s in tree pose, sometimes on his head. It just goes to show, where there’s a will there’s a way.
Turns out he’s a porter at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, and it’s the only time he has to do his…
YOU-GA, before his morning shift. 
I’ll tell ya. 🙂
That’s a false alarm you don’t mind. No one wants to find a body, especially to start the day. You probably have more friends and acquaintances than anyone else in NYC.
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Is there a middle ground between friend and acquaintance? Well there should be. 🙂
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Bloggers are on that middle ground before you know them long enough to be firm friends.
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Good point.
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What a relief to find the young man not dead and not ill! Are you ever likely to walk by the Ritz Carlton while he is on duty? I wonder if you would recognize each other, and if you did, would you both look the other way?
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Only if he was on his head. 🙂
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Gotta love the early bird yoga sessions. No excuses not to fit in a regimen after reading this.
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One must make time to stand in one’s head as he has proven. I’m trying to squeeze it in myself. 🤔
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I should try that.
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Will give a new prospective perhaps.
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PS Have I said lately I appreciate you reading my essays. I never take it for granted. You’ll have to excuse me though, there’s a series I like called Heroes i’m anxious to read. You may have heard of it. 🙂
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I love your essays, SB.
And yes indeed, Heroes is up and running. 🙂
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When I get home. Don’t like reading on my phone.
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Me either. I get eye strain. Unless it’s short. Mine rambles on.
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That’s some dedication, to get out and do that. You gotta do what you gotta do. Considering all the heavy suitcases he probably lifts all day, it’s probably extra necessary to keep that up.
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Where there’s a will there’s a way. A lesson.
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People encourage me to be more flexible. This guy seems to have gotten there.
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He is a bit gumbyesque the way he twists and turns. Yoga isn’t as easy as it looks. He is very limber though, when you see him he looks anything but. He’s all muscle, like a wrestler.
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That must have been quite the surprise indeed!
Sure gives me the motivation to get a program of something on!
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He’s pretty impressive…especially on his head. I gather you’re home, safe and sound.
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He must be!
I am home, save and sound and coronavirus-free… (sheesh, the three hours in La Guardia were a non-stop litany of the horrors on the TVs and speakers.)
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I know. And it continues.
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Indeed. Lead by fear…
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I hope it’s only temporary,
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So do I. I heard they already have the vaccine. This is H1N1 all over again.
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Fear is spreading like a California wildfire. I’m holding on to my sanity as long as I can.
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It’s insanity cubed..
And good for you. I didn’t worry for one second while I was away.
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We just have to be careful. But, when I think how I live in a huge city with so much soot and God knows what, sailing through the air, I should have been washing my hands more long ago. it’s true. I never worry about stuff like that. Go figure.
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Nice to link posts. 🙂
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