Carnival is over, and I have to admit, I’m glad about that. I need to get back to work and besides, my right shoulder hurts from reaching for beads. I rode my bike up to campus for a surprisingly well-attended couple of classes. The ride wasn’t easy, though. I’m really sore from so many days of riding, walking, dancing, standing, and jumping around like a crazy person, so I took it really easy on my commute back home. I have been so busy staring at parades and celebrations lately that I’ve spent much less time noticing scenes like this, of a blighted triplex. There’s a broken toilet out front, and that strange, lone tree growing out of the cement. Some of the doors are open and the windows blown out. The insides of the place aren’t on the outside, so perhaps it is on its way to being rehabilitated. Across the street from here, right behind me when I took this picture, is an apartment complex that looks to be totally new construction. This, though, is a terrible view. But look at that sky. Yes, this is New Orleans, a city of many, many contradictions. I got back on the bike, continued my commute, struck as always by the pleasures