It was a beautiful day in New Orleans today, and I rode home from work with Bruce Springsteen’s Tenth Avenue Freeze Out in my ears and the air whizzing around me. These are the kinds of rides that make me thrilled to be alive, and to get to ride a bike. I know, I know, it sounds melodramatic, but that’s how it feels. Ok, enough of that. I stopped my ride to snap this picture of a very festive mini (really mini) van that I pass almost every day. When I first saw it, it was painted these Mardi Gras colors of green, purple, and gold. And then they added the Saints fleur de lys flames, and most recently, scooter platforms on the back. The Saints decorations appear to be sponsored by somebody, but otherwise the thing is it’s own art project. I’ve yet to see it driving anywhere, but I enjoy passing it, I think because the owner clearly has made a project out of his or her transportation. People do that here–make a project, a festival, a party, out of what other towns might see as ordinary. And as someone currently decorating one bike and fantasy-outfitting another, well, I can get behind this sort of thing.