Pole Dancing....

Hello my friends...

I hope that the beginning of your summer days are quiet, full of fun and of course most peaceful...

For a moment there... from the title of my little post... I’ll bet that you thought I was going to take you down a path of tantalizing memories or discovery...

Well my dear friends, I am...

For the pole that I see on this warm early summer's day (and on every upcoming hot summer's afternoon) in my quick wink, blink and nod... stands in the center of the playground in Fort Tyron Park... it is tall and round and steel gray... and yes many a pretty girl in a bathing suit will shimmy-up its length and slide back down... it is the source of an arc of cool... no, cold... and refreshing water... an oasis of fun and enjoyment on many a hot sunny afternoon... more legal than opening the fire hydrant... even though it may have not been as much fun... I will save the memory of the fire hydrant, the torrent of ice cold water, the ruined man-tailored blouses and the appreciation of a wet tee-shirt for another post...

For us growing up in "OUR INWOOD" in the summer visiting the parks was an every day event.... first of all when we played there, err, visited... err, no, almost lived there.... there was no admission charge what-so-ever.... that's right it was free.... and play, we did... knock hockey was “the game”... tournaments were held... with champions representing the various parks and playgrounds of the city traveling to regional and then City-wide tournaments... as a matter of fact I married a Payson Park Knock Hockey Champion...

Growing up there were so many things to do... arts and crafts, ping pong, checkers, chess (for the more cerebral), marbles, shuffle board, the monkey bars, the small and big kid swings, the sand boxes... and if all of that was taken (and it usually was)... and we were lucky enough to have a Spaldeen in our pocket... and if we could find a Popsicle Stick... we had hours of a little game called “hit the stick” ahead of us...

And then... if that was not enough... and yes, very often it was not enough for us... there would be more fun up in... The Cloisters...

Yes that castle that we would share with friends playing Knights and Ladies of the Old Round Table... or we had our own version of Robin Hood and his Merry Men.... sure we would even play Cowboys and Indians, and even then there was “WAR” (our version of G.I. Joe) up in Fort Tryon Park.... but running around the property of a world class medieval museum and not knowing or appearing to care that the art work was hundreds and even a thousand years old.... was really quite commonplace for us.... but, when we look back now.... the memories of those games are really precious....

The Cloisters was so special.... a very special gift from old John D. Rockefeller himself.... he didn't have to do it.... but, all of us who grew up in Inwood are certainly in his debt.... for believe it or not, the place did rub-off on us.... we did emerge from "OUR INWOOD" with some culture.... and an appreciation for fine art.... and yes, the dedicated teachers of OLQM, GSS, SJ and PS152, PS98 and JHS52 all had something to do with it.... and yes, when STING sat there in that chapel at the Cloisters for his interview on CBS... I had the joy of telling my daughter.... "You see that place, right there where STING is.... I stole more than a few kisses right there, right there...."

Thank God, one or two (no... many) of those kisses was from her Mother... I'm proud to say.... Ahh, what a place it was, so cool inside... it was a refuge from a hot summer's day and a warm retreat on a cold winter’s day walk in the park.... was that really the “Holy Grail” that sat under the glass case? Were there really a King and Queen in regal repose and forever enshrined-in-state in that Royal Hall? Did Knights, Vassals and Serfs really man the ramparts in defense of the King and Queen? Did the drawbridge gate really keep out hordes of marauding Vikings? Ahh, my friends... the memories on a summer’s day abound... our imaginations ran wild…. wild indeed... in a beautiful wink, blink and nod!

Happy Summer Days of 2010 my dear, dear friends and as always I wish you...

Peace,
Inwood Guy