nature

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Azaleas in Front of Gibson Hall at Tulane

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I had one of those incredibly long days at work, 9-9, but I had a couple hours between daytime and nighttime events and spent one of them doing laps around Audubon Park. Pedal, pedal, pedal, it was just what I needed. I rolled back in to campus and stopped to take a picture of the azaleas spread out across the main entrance. That’s some wild color out there, my friends. It’s all over the city. This place is beautiful right now. When I finally headed home it was too dark to see the color, but every once in awhile, a little jasmine.

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The Moon Over Downtown New Orleans From the Jeff Davis Overpass

See that glowing orb in the upper left of this picture, above the building and across from the crane? No, not the glowing rod that is the Falstaff apartments but the circle. Yeah, that’s the moon. It was very big and very bright tonight. I watched it rise from the horizon above the rooftops Uptown. I rode my bike and stopped at the highest point in New Orleans (to me): the Jeff Davis pedestrian overpass, passing over I10 to snap this photo and stare at the giant moon (and I was not the only one doing that tonight). Continue reading →

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White Herons Building Nests in Audubon Park

As I was riding my bike up to campus today for the first day back from spring break, I kept thinking about the gazillion people who don’t commute by bike. You are really missing out, people. It feels so good to get some energy out and pedal to work first thing in the morning. Continue reading →

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Birds in a Tree at Lake Pontchartrain

Five years ago I quit smoking. The first three months were terrible–lots of crying and worrying that I’d be logged on to my support site for the rest of my life and feeling like I’d accomplished some amazing feat by managing to wait 40 minutes for an oil change–how do nonsmokers wait? That seems like a zillion years ago. Continue reading →

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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 →

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Baby Broccoli Growing in a Container in Mid-City

When I last visited my dear sister in NYC, I realized that if you aren’t really into bicycles, you might not even notice them. I was only half listening as we wandered around Brooklyn chatting about the old days when I, too, lived in Brooklyn. The other half was busy checking out every single bike that rode by–the fixies and cruisers and hybrids and road and mountain bikes–and only occasionally checking out the rider. Continue reading →

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Empty Seats at the Audubon Aquarium IMAX Theater

I had the day free and I happily spent it playing hooky. I rode my bike downtown to a doctor’s appointment and then to the gym where I lazily lifted some weights and thought about what to eat for lunch. I went for a burrito and a beer, it being Thursday and all, before taking the bike to the aquarium. Continue reading →

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Fake Flowery Trees at Dinwiddie Hall

Another day, another bicycle commute to work. It was positively lovely out, again, and when I headed home at the end of the day, it was still sunny and the sky was a most brilliant blue. I stopped at the edge of campus near St. Charles to snap a picture of this bright pink flowering trees that recently showed up in front of Dinwiddie Hall (yes, that’s really what it’s called). They seem so out of place in January, and the rest of the trees surrounding it are all limb withered leaves, so what’s the deal? Continue reading →

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Chain Link Fence at Poland & Chartres

I’m in the middle of finals, which means I’m busily grading grading grading. So when R. suggested we get together with S. for a grading marathon, I was sold. After grading at home all morning, I hopped on the bike and headed down to the Marigny for a blueberry muffin, coffee, camaraderie, and a whole bunch of reading journals. We took a break to do our late afternoon tasks–dog walking, trip to the office, and, for me, a bike ride. Continue reading →

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A Satsuma On a Tree at East Drive & Patton

After yesterday’s 80 degree day, the weather positively turned this morning. Big clouds, thunder, rain, and a good 25 degree drop. It’s a good thing I’ll ride in anything, because my car is in the shop and I have places to be. I did the usual rides–down Prytania for a doctor’s appointment, up St. Charles to the office, but by the time my day was over, I was itching for something else. I rode through the park in daylight to see what the fountains look like not all lit up. The path was surprisingly empty, so I just pedaled against the wind until I hit the zoo, where I did a loop to see if maybe I could see some zoo animal heads poking over the fences. Continue reading →