I spent the day working from home and didn’t feel much like going anywhere, but by 5:00, I was feeling jumpy and decided to just get on the bike a ride to the grocery store. Once I was on the bike and pedaling, what usually happens happened, and I ended up taking a longer ride around town. I take the same main routes all the time, so today I decided to head out on my route to Bayou St. John but to just keep going instead of taking that right. Pedal, pedal, pedal, and I was at the end point of a different route–guess there’s more than one way to get there. Continue reading
blight
Parking Lot at Loyola & Perdido
Yep, still sick, but today my throat hurt more and I was coughing up grosser stuff and my body was less fatigued, so thankfully I think this means I’m on the mend. (Colds like this remind me how glad I am I quit smoking four years ago–this would go on for the next six weeks if I was still puffing away.) I worked from home and got some rest, but did head out on the bike this evening to meet T., a loyal reader of the blog, visiting from San Francisco. Continue reading
Serious Warning on a House at Willow & Gen Taylor
I woke up early and worked all day long, putting on a show for classroom after classroom. After lunch was when I really started to plan my afterschool. Buzzing in the background of the rest of the day was, “bike, gym, steam room, bike, leftover chili, T-flippin’-V.” And when the day was done, well, that’s what I did. I rode down Willow to avoid traffic and stopped to take a picture of this house on Willow and Gen. Taylor with a stern warning out front: “IF YOU GO IN AND I SEE YOU I WILL KILL.” Continue reading
Abandoned U-Haul on Willow and Gen. Taylor
Oh, I had such a busy day today. I was up early, rode the bike to campus, and then just taught, four classes, no time to much other than what I was there to do. How rare is that? Anyway, I was ready to just be home when my last class was out at 5:15, but I had to ride my bike to get there. I wasn’t looking forward to the short 2.5 mile ride, so I decided to change it up by getting off St. Charles and taking Willow downtown instead. Continue reading
Vines on a Blighted House at Mandolin and Cartier
Finally, a new rear tire procured and mounted. I swear, being without the Surly for two days turned me into a total crank; I was desperate to take the bike out for a ride today. The weather was that perfect late summer sunny, and there were two parades downtown and the promise of a long afternoon without destination or rain forecasts–my favorite. I rode down to catch one parade, and then the other, and then the first one again. I headed toward the 7th Ward, up St. Bernard. Continue reading
Blighted House on Mehle and N. Rampart in Arabi
I had a lovely day getting some reading and writing done before hopping on the Surly for a trip to the doctor’s office. At the end of our appointment I asked her how she was doing as the 5th anniversary of Katrina and the levee breaches that flooded New Orleans. She told me a harrowing story of her escape from the city, so terrible it seemed like out of a movie. But it wasn’t. And hers is one story among thousands and thousands and thousands. Continue reading
Overgrown Weeds and Abandoned Housing at Governor’s Island
I am having a most wonderful vacation in NYC, in spite of having to *gasp* walk. This town is made to bike, and there is a ridiculously fantastic bicycle infrastructure here. Sharrows! Buffered bike lanes! Bicycles, bicycles everywhere. I want to move back here with my bicycles and bike every last one of these lanes. Today, though, I rented a bike and was just happy to get to pedal a bit and let my feet and legs rest. I am in great biking shape. Walking? Not so much. I rode around Governor’s Island, learning some history and dodging a zillion bicyclists and walkers and Civil War reenactors (not Rebs, like they’d be back home, but just as weird). The sun was bright and all was right with the world. I snapped this picture of overgrown weeds in front of some abandoned Coast Guard housing. Right across from here are views of the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan and all kinds of big city views of a fantastical nature, but this is the view that reminded me of home. Oh, I am most pleased to be living here and there, now.
Southern Recycling Scrapyard at Toulouse and N. Dorgenois
As you’ve now heard, tropical storm Bonnie has broken apart and storm warnings have been canceled and this is all the very best news for us. I took my bike, left my raincoat at home to tempt the fates, and headed to Mid-City to meet D. and M. for lunch. It was delightful to ride with some cloud cover and a completely free afternoon. Continue reading
Empty Lot at Magazine and Andrew Higgins
It was a beautifully sunny day in New Orleans, which meant it was hot, hot, hot, and I was almost instantly drenched in my own glisten after about a block. Yep, some good old fashioned summer bicycling! After an appointment and lunch and then another appointment I headed downtown to the gym, partly for the weights and partly for the air conditioning and cold showers. Continue reading
Construction at Monroe and Earhart
I had the afternoon free after meeting my writing goals in the morning, so–surprise, surprise–I took the bike out for a ride. After bzzzzzzzing for Spain with N., I rode over to the Mississippi River levee patch and zipped quickly along with a strong tailwind. Oh, it was so beautiful out there today and the river was running high and the sun was warm and I had nowhere to be. Yeah, it was that sort of day. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 