We are having a wee bit of a heat wave here in New Orleans. Or at least that’s what the weather folks are telling us every day, with their heat advisories and everything. Heat advisory, or dude, it’s summertime in New Orleans, which means it’s just going to be hot–these are the questions that try my soul. But after Saturday’s long ride in the heat, I needed a day of rest yesterday, and today just got away from me, so all I got was a short nighttime ride to meet some former students for a drink (look at those shiny young graduates with their bright futures!). M. asked me some questions about my bikes–a little late to kiss up to teacher, but I’ll take it. She asked me if I consider being a bicyclist as part of my identity. Sure, I said. But mostly I think about biking as just the way I get places, how I move through the world. It isn’t something I think about even though I think about it all the time. I mean, I’ve been blogging about riding my bike almost every day for over two years. But I just ride a bike–it’s what I do, just like for most people who drive, driving is just how they’re going to get where they’re going. It’s amazing how quickly things can become just part of our everyday. Like this Professional Pharmacy: Prescriptions place tucked in across the street from Touro hospital. The place is empty even though it should be prime real estate, and it totally would make sense to have a Professional Pharmacy right there on the hospital campus. But it’s just part of the background now, this empty storefront and out of place and time sign, like all the other empty buildings in this town. We are the capital of blight, you know. I’m off to New York on vacation for a week, and I’m not at all sure when or if I’ll get any biking in. Let’s hope I can hold on to my identity while I’m gone.