I had planned to take a long bike ride to City Park this afternoon, but those plans were shuttled by incredible rains that I just didn’t feel like braving. I was really disappointed because I needed a long ride after dropping my dear friend S. at the airport. He’s really moved away, and I didn’t know what to do besides ride. So I waited for the rains to pass and went on a long ride late in the day through the Marigny, snapping pictures of things that reminded me of my dear friend–Bacchanal and snoballs and scenes. I then got a couple of beers and read a book, giving myself a rest before the ride home. And I wanted to ride home at night. The city is so different by night–the air is a different sort of heavy and the smell is a bit sweeter, especially when the night jasmine is blooming. I love the feel of flying through the relatively empty streets in the dark on my bike, nodding to other evening wanderers. As I was riding through the Quarter, dodging horse-drawn carriages and drunken tourists, I saw several of the Haunted New Orleans tours. I’ve never been on this tour, but see them whenever I’m riding through the Quarter at night. The tours follow one after another up Royal. Everyone is wearing their Haunted New Orleans stickers and waving their Haunted New Orleans fans. And I waved at them, perfectly happy to share the streets tonight as the wind whipped around me, cooling me just a bit from the difficult day.