I got on my bike to head out for an appointment this morning and faced the same perfect conditions we’ve had all week: sunny skies, temps still in the 70s, that perfect light. Oh, it is perfect weather for bike riding. But as I pedaled I realized that it’s true: I have a cold. Nothing serious, but that kind of cold where the back of your throat feels gummy and your ears are itching and your head is heavy and you are just plain tired. Nope, no long ride in this perfect weather for me–I rode home, made a few detours for errands, and then stayed in to rest. Because I checked the weather report–nothing but suns for the next ten days. I need my energy, because I’m going to need to ride that weather, like I wanted to today. Get out there, people. This won’t last.
personal
Cool Breeze Uptown on St. Charles Ave.
Sometimes I work a really, really long day, like non-stop-for-fourteen-hours long day, and the last thing I want to do is think about what I’m seeing riding my bike around today. I just want to be home watching the Saints with a beer and leftovers. But then I get on my bike and get in a rhythm and the streets are dark and empty and the air is actually cool. And then I’m glad I’m not at home on the couch, happy to be alone on my bike for 20 minutes so the long day can just drift away. Yeah, that’s what I saw riding my bike around today.
Zion Travelers Second Baptist Church at Laurel & Peniston
I woke up early this morning, an hour earlier still than up “early,” in fact. My cats were engaged in a face off with the neighborhood dogs through my windowed door, and Sully, my talkative cat, came to tell me all about it. We then engaged in our easy morning routines–Little, my quiet cat, rubbing her face against my pillow, Sully pacing until there’s food in the bowl, Little making biscuits while I read, Sully laying out on her side with her head in some crazy contortion, looking more peaceful than I can ever imagine feeling. La dee dah, they followed me around as I brushed my teeth, ate breakfast (Sully has to sniff everything), and stared at me as I wheeled the bike out (to dog territory) and headed to work. Continue reading
A Hole in a Tire on an Uptown Bicycle
Technicially, this is something I saw before I rode my bike around today. Last Sunday’s tire puncture has been growing all week long, and on last night’s ride, I could feel the thump-a thump-a thump-a of something going on back there, if you know what I mean. Oh, this situation is beyond repair, isn’t it? I did the math, and this tire went at least 4,000 miles, which seems pretty decent for the tire that came with the bike. I thought I might be able to get one last ride in before my new tire comes in tomorrow, so I hopped on the Surly and headed to the Treme to meet some friends for lunch. Yeah. The tire burst on O.C. Haley and Euterpe. N. picked me up–we’re good friends, so I avoided the well-earned “I told you so”–and after lunch, the bike and I were back home. New tires tomorrow, folks. I’m excited.
Clouds Above Frenchman and Royal Streets
I have been having a bit of trouble sleeping lately–getting on the new Fall schedule is taking a bit of time for this little insomniac–and I was dragging a bit today. After getting some work done that I’ve been long avoiding and finishing the book I’ve been reading, I headed to the coffee shop to get some writing done. By the time 6:00pm rolled around, I was not at all in the mood for a bicycle ride. But the thing is, a bike ride is always a good idea, especially in a slight cool post-rain early evening, and I needed bike tubes. I hopped on the Surly and headed down to the bike shoppe. When I got there, I snapped a picture of the positively lovely sky–a perfect blue, swirled with clouds, background to what also looks like a picture of that tree, or that triangle of an aging building, or perhaps just a picture of those wires. Yes, it is always a good idea to take the bike out for a ride, a little tired or not.
Tulane Marching Band Practice on the LBC Quad
I am home again, home again, jiggity jig after a positively lovely trip out west to see old friends. Home means back on the bike, and I couldn’t have been more pleased to velcro-up my shoes, clip in, and head to campus to unpack my new office. It took a few blocks to get up to speed, and I had to play around with the gears to get comfortable again, but man, it is seriously good to be back on my bike. And it is also seriously good to be back on campus with that smell of back-to-school in the air. Continue reading
Memorial Shrine to Albert Joseph Jackson, Jr. at Magazine and Ninth
I am back in New Orleans from a most wonderful week in New York City. I had a ridiculously good time with E., wandering around and getting my National Parks Passport stamped. America’s Best Idea, indeed. NYC is so, so different from anywhere else, of course, but what I noticed was how different it is from where I am now. I live in a really small town. I find it almost impossible to get lost anymore, and it is rare to go out and about and not run into someone you know, or someone who knows you. Continue reading
New Playground Equipment at Wisner Center Park at Annuciation and Upperline
As I was getting on my bike to head home after enjoying the Laker blowout with N., I thought about what I was going to say about this picture I took tonight of new playground equipment at the park on Annunciation and Upperline. When I first moved to New Orleans this park was still filled with FEMA trailers, but that space is now a baseball diamond. The basketball courts have been redone. And now, finally, the rusted out swingset and aluminum overhang has been replaced with this colorful new equipment. Continue reading
Containers at the Carrollton Water Treatment Plant on Monticello and Claiborne
Today is my blog’s second birthday. I started the blog to gently mock my sister’s daily blog of her lunch (check it out–it’s actually sublime). I certainly didn’t expect to still be writing it, almost every day, two years later. But here we are, I’m still riding and writing, and both still bring me immense amounts of pleasure. One of the things the blog has done is forced me to pay attention as I move through the world. Continue reading
Community Garden at Terpsichore and O.C. Haley
After I finished my writing for the day I hopped on the Surly, still shiny and new from the shoppe, and headed out to do a final ride of the route for this Saturday’s Bicycle Second Line with the Metro Bicycle Coalition. Streets change fast around here, so I wanted to do a last run, taking note of any road construction or serious potholes. Other than the usual off-roading on Freret and that sinkhole developing at Melpomene and St. Charles, the streets are decent and the parade is ready to roll. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 