New York missive no 78 - a meditator and a musician

Some mornings I break up the subway ride into work with a walk through Central Park. I get out at Lex and 59th street, or at 5th Ave and 59th, then walk through the bottom of the park to Columbus Circle, where I get the 1 train the rest of the way. In the park one day last week I saw a man sitting on a rock in what I thought was a meditative pose. His arms hung loose down either side of his body. Then I noticed that in one hand he held a cigarette, and in the other a cup of coffee.

I also passed a man who, the previous day, had been sitting down tentatively playing on a little pipe thing. This time, he was standing upright, blasting out a tune on bagpipes. Like a peacock parading his fanned-out tail.