It was a beautifully cool night for my ride home up Baronne from the Treme after a lovely evening dog walk (read: chase) at City Park with S. and her handsome but mannerless pitbull. I love these nights when it’s cool enough for a light sweater, even on the bike. S. asked me what route I was going to take, and I told her I didn’t know, but probably Baronne. There are only so many ways to get Uptown, and Baronne is my fave for getting through the ugliness that is the CBD. I take this same street over and over again, and sometimes I’m noticing what’s different: new billboards, new paint jobs, new plants flowering. But tonight I snapped this picture of the same old sinkhole that I ride by night after night. There is something different about it tonight, though. Someone has thoughtfully placed an old traffic cone in the center, like a witch’s hat, to warn hapless motorists, moped-ists, and bicyclists of the impending danger. This is an improvement over the dark ring that has been marking it for the past year or so. It kinda just looks like a shadow at night. What you can’t see off in the distance are the rising facades of the Muses development. Now there’s some real change. They can build a housing development here, but keep this manhold cover from sinking and creating this hazard? Nope. This is why we memorize our potholes and gravel pits (there are two, just up ahead) and cracked asphalt; knowledge is power, people!