Magnolia Blossoms Behind Tulane’s Gibson Hall

I am just plain tired out from my weekend of biking and walking and shouting for beads, and the weird reaction I’m having to the antibiotic my dentist gave me that is making my joints swell is not helping. In other words, today’s ride was a commute, a quick ride around Audubon Park to loosen things up a bit, and then home to ibuprofen and ice. Continue reading

(Seemingly) Drunk King Arthur at 6th & St. Charles

*REVISED*

I woke up early this morning and remembered that there were more parades. More parades! If you can’t tell, I love this time of year. I made myself sit down and do some work before it was parading time, so I walked over to the coffee shop, graded some papers, and bounced up and down in my seat until it was time to head home, grab the bike, and get to C. and P.’s for the first parade of the day–Krewe of Carrollton. Continue reading

Krewe of Pontchartrain Riders at 6th & St. Charles

Oh, my legs are heavy today! Two days of long rides and a sunburn (antibiotics+sun=no good) have left me exhausted, but that certainly doesn’t mean I’m going to miss a daytime parade on the first weekend of Mardi Gras. Please. I considered walking, but a bike is faster, so I put the bike in a low gear and headed over to find C. and P.’s corner where I always know I’ll find healthy bead competition. Continue reading

St. Mary’s Academy Maryites Marching Band at 6th & St. Charles

I woke up this morning with parading on my mind. Which meant I couldn’t really concentrate on anything, so after trying and failing to get some work done, I took the bike out to work out some nervous pre-Mardi Gras jitters. The sun was shining bright, the skies were clear, and I was flying through neighborhoods, feeling incredibly happy. Continue reading

Row of Blighted Houses at Caton & St. Bernard Avenue

I tried to sit in my office and do work today, I swear. I wrote about three sentences, met with a student, wrote a recommendation letter, and had lunch with R. and chocolate with R. But then I gave in to my senioritis and the 80 degree weather and took the bike out for a ride. It was seriously windy and I couldn’t seem to find a tailwind, so my ride was a heavy pedal in low gear all afternoon. I wasn’t in any kind of hurry, so that worked for me–hill training! Continue reading

Parade at Magazine & Nashville

I felt inexplicably exhausted after teaching today, so my ride today was nothing but the commute. After a long afternoon working in the office, I put my heavy legs on the bike and headed to the grocery store for a couple things. As I came up on Magazine from Nashville, I saw a parade coming down the street. A parade! Oh, that’s right–it’s Mardi Gras! Continue reading

Scrap Metal at Claiborne & Erato

I spent a good bit of my day in my favorite way: on my bike. I rode down to the Marigny for a much-needed haircut and then sped right back Uptown for a doctor’s appointment (no, I don’t have a flesh-eating bacterial infection–huzzah!). The weather is just ridiculous, and it felt so good to just be flying along and getting sweaty. And it’s only February. Continue reading

Clouds Over Lake Pontchartrain

It was warm and lovely out when I left my place early to head to the Bywater for brunch with students. Someone else was paying, so I got myself some praline bacon with the rest of my meal, drank too much coffee, and put extra butter on my biscuit. On my way out I ran in to S. and R. coming in, so I stayed for another round of water and caught up on the rest of their parade night before heading over to Bayou St. John to catch up with D., M., R., and N.–thanks, terrible cell phone service, for keeping us apart last night! Continue reading

Closely Parked Cars Near Dauphine & Pauger

Carnival is upon us again, and even though I was feeling a bit under the weather, I wasn’t about to miss my last first-parade-of-the-season as a resident of New Orleans. I hopped on my bike and headed downtown without a sweater or anything, because I swear it’s already summertime. The traffic was crazy once I crossed Canal as folks gathered for Krewe du Vieux. Continue reading

Egrets and Herons at the Carrollton Water Treatment Plant

Is there any season better than springtime? Seriously, no matter what your climate, spring rocks. We don’t have crocuses here, but we’ve got marching bands and sunshine and the way it smelled today. I rode up to campus and did a quick loop around the park before a couple of quick meetings with students. Continue reading