Injuries of the day.

1. Following to the interests of visiting family, I took one step onto the ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center and fell flat on my back. I'm used to ice skating, so I can't tell you why this happened. Was it the fresh Zamboni-izing? The weirdly leaden, horribly rigid ice skates they rent out? Or was it sheer inattention and overconfidence? I don't know, but it hurt, especially my pride. I went on to skate for an hour without further injury.

2. At the Children's Zoo at Central Park Zoo, I turned away from a turtle aquarium and, blinded by harsh late afternoon sun, cracked my head on a concrete tree branch. There are concrete trees everywhere, configured at child-friendly heights. I managed to navigate the rest of the Children's Zoo without further collision. I fed a couple alpacas, and they did not bite or spit at me.

3. In an effort to enter FAO Schwartz, we walked 2 blocks in search of the end of the line. Rounding the corner at Madison Avenue, I walked past a woman — an Upper East Side middle-aged blonde — who punched me in the back. I have no idea what punchworthy offense she believed me to have committed, but it seems to have been nothing more than occupying space on the sidewalk that she wanted a straight shot at. I was relieved that no one wanted to wait in the line, and we hailed a cab back to Brooklyn.