It was a positively beautiful Saturday in New Orleans and I spent much of it on my bicycle, riding around–surprise, surprise. I headed to campus to get a little work done in my office, and as I was leaving to enjoy the ride, I discovered a flat tire. When will I learn to carry an extra tube? The puncture was incredibly small, and I couldn’t find it, and the sinks in the public restroom didn’t have stoppers, which meant I was doomed to lose my dignity and stick my hands and the tube in the toilet. Sigh. Anyway, after I finally got up and riding again, I zipped over to N.’s house to see her puppy and then to the coffee shoppe to see S. and her new bike–our bikes look really good together. We headed back down to the Treme where we ran into a parade. A parade! I love a parade! I love the sounds and the people and the dancing in the streets and the homemade costumes and it is all just wonderful. I took this picture of the MLK Charter School marching band who brought up the rear. The street wasn’t quite wide enough, but they just made room and reminded me again why I just plain love living here. How long until Mardi Gras again?