Chapter 10: Against the Mat
February 3. Snow swept through the city with an unstoppable fury. The temperature outside creeped below ten degrees. My piano lessons were canceled for the day because of the tempestuous weather. I didn’t feel like working on my Greece trip, nor hanging out at the apartment. Instead, I unearthed some heavy-duty winter clothes from my bedroom, faced the snowstorm head-on, and walked to Ranard’s Gym, which ended up being open for business for die-hard fitness junkies.
The place looked and felt like a mausoleum, just as I suspected it would be. My agenda at the gym seemed simple enough: do a few laps in the pool, workout with a punching bag, lift some weights, and exhaust myself for the walk back to my apartment in the cold. Snuggled inside my warm apartment, may
