Saturday, October 5, 2019

First Day, Fight Day

The first Saturday of October is a busy one for me. It is the opening day of the children's athletic program I coach for, and it is invariably a busy day on the job. Today, it meant coming home around 1AM, getting up at 7AM, taking the subway into Manhattan, and teaching, usually until 11:45 if we have a full 'dance card'. Basically, by 9:30, I am fighting with seven year olds. We are lucky to have one seven year old who plays judo in another dojo, so she maintains her skill set throughout the summer. She can breeze through forward rolls while her classmates need a refresher... she is a good partner for her peers, which helps us to no end.

I took the train back to the Bronx with Gently Jimmy G., all-around badass and good guy, then drove him to his building, which is uphill from the Broadway and 238th St Station, up in the Riverdale section of the Boogie-Ooogie-Oogie-Til-You-Just-Can't-Boogie-No-More Bronx, then it was back to Yonkers, a swing by a local pizzeria for a couple of slices, and back home for a brief interlude. That basically means taking the contacts out for a while, downing two aspirin, drinking a big cup of yerba mate, then taking a hot-as-I-can-stand-it shower until I feel limber enough to go to work. Tonight, I will be hopping all night, I have to cover a lot of ground during event nights, and will be the last one around to lock up, probably around midnight. It's a slog, but it's bearable- things get quiet at work after November, so I just need to power through four weeks of long Saturdays. Thankfully, Sensei prepared me for days like this.

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