The weather was absolutely ridiculous today so after a morning at home with my book, I got on my bike, stopped in the Quarter for a margarita and a burrito, and then headed out toward Lake Pontchartrain to see what it looks like when a lake rises several feet because the river is flooding. I pedaled in an easy gear against the wind and took a right on Lakeshore Drive for a quick pedal from City Park to Leon C. Simon. I don’t know if it was high tide or a matter of extra water or high winds, but the lake was awash in waves, splashing noisily against the levee. I rode along with a tailwind now, past picnickers and fishermen, walkers and joggers, and, of course, other cyclists. I took this picture as I reached the end of Lakeshore Drive, where the lake stops being the park and starts being the airport and the factory and the bridge construction project. Those signs out in the water warn against swimming beyond that point, but I have a feeling that’s not really a warning most of us need. I finally peeled off from the lake, because they made me, and spent the next hour riding around Pontchartrain Park and Gentilly, and for a little while there, I wasn’t sure where I was or how I was going to get home. It is so, so hard to get lost these days, at least in space, and today was just exactly precisely what I needed. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my bicycle?