Nothing like an afternoon of hula hoops and pogo sticks.
I spent the afternoon at Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem, observing/participating in Street Games, a festival of music and old school playground games from kickball and handball to double dutch and hippity hops.
While the event was, of course, advertised as something for the whole family, a childless adult has to be careful about how much she actually participates, especially when it comes to the team sports. The goal is to avoid being perceived as a pervert.
The key is to find individual ventures where there are adults present and running the stations. With that in mind, I undertook three ventures:
Hula Hoop — not new at all. I’m kind of awesome at hula hoop. I used to have a weighted one.
Double Dutch — Hilariously bad. I think I jumped one full round and was beside myself. Oh well, first time.
Pogo Stick — Okay, I haven’t pogoed in more than 25 years, and I definitely remember the sticks being a lot less powerful. Now, they work on air pressure instead of springs. I got in a few good jumps, but there were these kids who were ridiculous. They were jumping over fences, doing flips… I got to talk to one of the fathers who says he takes his kid to pogoing competitions, the way other parents take their kids to soccer games.
This is a sport. A legitimate (at least quasi-legitimate) sport. Extreme Pogo, or as it’s called XPogo. 
Photo courtesy of XPogo.com. Sadly, my photos from today did not come out. Oh well. Win some, lose some.
The Something New Project 