Marmaduke Park, Brighton Heights: 3915 Oswald Street
The noon sun is assertive, and even from a distance, the deck hockey rink at Marmaduke Park hurts my eyes. The aluminum bleachers radiate with a white-hot intensity, and the playing surface, all neon yellow and royal blue, is painfully bright. A woman reclines near the top of the stands, smoking a cigarette and talking on her phone, her face tilted to catch every available ray. When you’re hundreds of miles from a tropical beach, you make do. Reptiles aren’t the only ones who seek out warmth.
While the sun spotlights the rink, the rest of the playground is ringed by shade trees and a grassy slope. It’s a shadowy and cool hollow, and in the middle is a young man in navy sweatpants and a matching hoodie blazing through a strength and cardio routine: jump rope, push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and crunches. He stops, checks his watch, and begins the cycle again. Under the trees, it’s chilly, but he’s an internal combustion engine, fierce and intense, just like the noon sun.
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