I spent the day working at home until I had to head to campus for what turned out to be a positively delightful reception with colleagues organized by M., the chair of my department. I took the bike, of course, and stopped at the post office to mail a thing or two. It is so much faster to run errands by bike than by car, folks, and in weather like we’re having, so, so much more pleasant. I was less than a block Uptown from the post office when I noticed this house covered in vines. It’s mid-October and these vines are still blooming brilliant purple flowers–morning glory, maybe?–like it’s mid-summer. And would you check out that sky? Ridiculous. That’s the thing about New Orleans. This house is clearly blighted, and the one next door is in early stages of being buried in plants too. The yard is completely overgrown and the place is clearly abandoned. Blight like this is bad for neighborhoods. And yet today the scene seemed beautiful to me. I’d trade that sense of beauty for an end to blight in a heartbeat, but today is today, and today I saw this.