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. I didn’t take any pictures on my afternoon ride, so I decided to go out for another quick spin after getting some work done at home. I headed up to LaSalle to take advantage of the still-smooth asphalt and then rode around Central City. This neighborhood is New Orleans, pocked with the dilapidated houses of uneven re/development, blocks filled with those cotton candy colored townhouses that have replaced the old Magnolia projects, kids riding bikes, folks sitting on porches, blooming magnolia trees, empty lots, and new houses. I rode up Erato and noticed junk peeking up over an aluminum siding fence. I got off the bike and took a picture of the junk piled up behind the fence, and there was a lot of it–this is Uptown Recycling, and they are doing their best to make sure you don’t see what they’ve got. I watched as a dog came trotting up, nosing under the fence, protecting the stuff from my prying eyes–or maybe just looking for a pet. I took that as my cue to head back home against the pinking sky, another lovely day of riding my bike around in the books.