cemeteries

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Peeking Over the Wall at St. Paul Cemetery at O’Donnell & Bonsai Streets

A small old brick building is set against a blue sky. A low brick wall extends along the sidewalk. On the other side is a cemetery.

This 2020 election has been a real doozy. I spent most of last week glued to the TV or Twitter while telling myself that neither of those things were helping. I was so exhausted on Wednesday, but woke up to roll into three straight hours of engaging with other people, something I was frankly in no shape to do. I wandered around for the rest of the afternoon in a daze, feeling like an empty husk of a person. I cannot control what I cannot control–and wow that includes the outcome of a presidential election, but the stakes are so high I struggled with the mindfulness practices that usually help. It’s like when I got cancer; “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” stopped soothing anything.

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Power Transmission Lines on Chase Just Before Iris

Fenced off green space with No Trespassing signs. Electrical transmission lines are on tall routers set against a blue sky and trees.

I haven’t been on a bike ride with no particular destination in a minute, so with free time on Wednesday and legs that needed a break from running I took advantage of the sunny fall afternoon to tool around. I headed south, a quick stop to drop a book with a friend, and then I turned east at the Station North Tool Library, across Greenmount, and east on Hoffman. I usually head south shortly after, but I decided to take a left on Holbrook Street to ride the length of it.

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Plant Growing From a Building at Lombard & Penn

Plant Growing From a Building on Lombard & Penn Monday’s ride was a similar zippy one down to the corner of Lombard and Greene to pick up the shuttle for my ride to work. I did some niggling and adjusting on my new pannier rack system, successfully solving the heel strike problem from last week. It was a long teaching day before a surprisingly short wait for the shuttle back into the city. I was happy to see a familiar face–V. from student affairs was giving the shuttle a try–and I sat next to her for a surprisingly short drive back to my bike. Sometimes the traffic let’s up. I got off early, took the slow stroll back to my bike. I stopped to snap a picture of this plant growing out of a brick wall. I’d checked out this wall from the shuttle earlier as we rode part, because I think there’s a cemetery up there. I hadn’t noticed it before–the bike’s to short to see over the wall, and why would I ride this way to cross MLK anyway? New routes, new views, and even the fancy med school can’t keep the plants out of the walls.

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Baltimore Cemetery Against Blue Skies at Belair Road & North Ave.

20140907_163321Sunday was just perfect. The temperature dropped from 93 to 78 degrees, and the humidity fell with it. I got my work and chores done early and had nowhere to be, and finally got a bike ride in that wasn’t driven largely by the place I had to be. I had something to return to a store that has an outlet in Canton, so I pedaled off with a vague plan to head southwest, and that’s what I did, joining the traffic on Harford Road before taking right after right after right on my way downtown. I managed to turn on streets I’m not sure I’d been on before, and I watched as the blocks turned from rows of matching brick to vacant flat-faced row houses to that series of car washes on the blocks in Middle East. Continue reading →

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Brompty Checking Out the View at Chalmette National Battlefield

Brompty Checking Out the View at Chalmette National BattlefieldMonday was my last day in New Orleans, and I used it to bike as many places as possible. When I first moved to NOLA in 2007, there were no bike lanes. Then the St. Claude bike lane went in, and then there was one on Broad Street, and that tiny stretch of Magazine in front of the WWII Museum, and the protected bike lane out in Gentilly, and now they are all over the place, and I wanted to ride them all. I wanted to take that favorite ride out through City Park and to Lake Pontchartrain to see the bayou and look for pelicans. I wanted to get lost out in Gentilly and do laps around Audubon Park and ride the Mississippi River Trail out to the end to see what they’ve done to that riverfront park in Kenner and if that abandoned suitcase is still there. Continue reading →

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Looking Up the Hill at Mt. Olivet Cemetery at Frederick & Parksley

Today’s ride took me over to campus to fetch my car after its exciting weekend parked in a lot. The day was ridiculously sunny and the sky a wild blue and I was feeling like quite the lucky duck, with my free afternoon (meetings cancelled!) and my sweet ride. I took a slightly different route since I didn’t have to hurry and rode down Maryland, past the library, and took a right on Saratoga. Continue reading →

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Memorial to Those Who Gave Their Bodies to Science at Charity Hospital Cemetery

It rained all day yesterday and was supposed to rain all day today too, but I checked the radar, and it looked like rain wouldn’t come in until the evening–plenty of time to get on the Surly and travel around town to see how folks are remembering the hurricane and the failure of the levees five years ago today. I headed to Mid-City and then out Canal to make a stop at the Katrina memorial at Charity Hospital Cemetery. Continue reading →

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Gates of Prayer Cemetery on Arabella and Garfield

I set out with big intentions today, but the cold that I’ve been denying for a couple days finally kept me to a day in the office and then home again. I needed some groceries before sequestering myself on the couch for a movie. I rode down Arabella headed to the fancy grocery store, and stopped to take a picture of this small cemetery at Arabella and Garfield. Continue reading →

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New Orleans Katrina Memorial at Charity Hospital Cemetery

Katrina Memorial at Charity Hospital CemeteryThe weather was lovely this morning so i got up early and took a nice long bike ride.  A couple of days ago I drove out Canal with the baby sis in tow, looking for Lake Pontchartrain. I ended up in Old Metairie after taking a left, so today I decided to ride out Canal to see where I would have ended up if I’d taken that right.  Continue reading →

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USCT Graves at Chalmette National Cemetery

Chalmette National CemeteryJazz Fest is here in New Orleans, and the weather just couldn’t be better for it. I’m not going this weekend, opting instead for the more affordable and more my speed Festival International Louisiane in Lafayette. Before heading off for music galore, though, I decided to take a day riding around this beautiful town, away from crowds. Continue reading →