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Moon Over the I10 From the Jeff Davis Overpass

See that glowing dot in the background there? Yeah, that’s the moon. I first saw it as I picked up the Jeff Davis bike path at Washington as I rode to Mid-City for a meeting. I pedaled faster, in time to the music, thinking the view would be pretty good from the top of the highest hill I’ve found in NOLA–the I10 overpass. I actually lost the moon when I got up there. I looked behind me–no dice. Continue reading →

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Blue Sky and Clouds Over Dauphine & Piety

I had a juice date with S. down in the Bywater this morning, so that meant I got to hop on the bike early. I don’t usually see downtown at that time of day, and I swear the light is different. I had trouble deciding on a route. I wanted the speed of St. Charles without the rocky riding I expected on Camp Street in the CBD–they’ve been resurfacing it for repaving–but I decided to risk it, and took Prytania down to Camp. Guess what? Continue reading →

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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.

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Storage Center at Howard & Baronne

I feel like it should be fall. It’s mid-September, my courses have been meeting long enough to have their own personalities, and the drugstore is full of Halloween candy. It should be cooling off. But on days like today I am reminded that it’s still hot and humid and sticky. And between you and me, I’m ready for a break from that, just for a minute. After a ride to the office and a stop at home for lunch, I pedaled down to the Quarter to meet S. for popsicles. Continue reading →

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Pumpkin Display at the Whole Foods on Magazine & Arabella

Yesterday was a rough one and I found myself completely wrung out today. I worked from home, grading papers, working on an article, doing laundry, reading for pleasure. I didn’t think I’d get out on the bike at all, but after finishing up all my tasks for the day, I thought I’d reward myself with a short ride to get some frozen yogurt. As always, the second I pushed off on the Surly I was glad to be pedaling. Continue reading →

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Halftime at the Superdome, Tulane V. Southeastern Louisiana

Fall is officially in the air. I might just feel like that because the last two nights, riding my bicycle home, the air has been almost chilly. Well, tonight it’s 80 degrees, but that’s chilly after the last few months of sweaty heat. Fall means football season, and tonight I took the bike down to the Superdome for Tulane’s first game of the season, against the Lions of Southeastern Louisiana State. Continue reading →

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Piles of Phone Books at Calhoun and Magnolia

I had a long day at work today and was looking forward to a slow ride downtown for a quick stop at the gym and then dinner with friends. I didn’t make it far, though, before the skies opened up and raindrops the size of salad plates came falling down. I ducked under a loading dock on Calhoun and Magnolia and waited it out with these stacks of phone books–a real blast from the past. Continue reading →

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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.

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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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Ferns Growing on a Building at S. Peters and St. Joseph

I finished up a project I’ve been working on for some months today, so as a reward, I gave myself the afternoon to ride my bike around, drop into a National Park Visitor’s Center–you know, the usual Friday afternoon of a National Park/bicycle obsessed academic. I put my passport in my pannier and thought to toss a poncho in there, just in case. Well, I made it to the Pontchartrain Expressway underpass when the sky just opened up. Sigh. I waited for awhile underneath the expressway, hoping it was one of those momentary summer thunderstorms. I impatiently put on my bright yellow poncho, thinking I could make it to the Quarter, but man, that kind of rain, when you wear glasses? Impossible. I hung out under an overhang for awhile longer until suddenly the rain was just gone. Weather in this place is nuts. I continued on my way and took a left at N. Peters to shoot down to Decatur. I stopped to take a picture of this white brick building on the corner of N. Peters and St. Joseph. You can’t tell in this picture, but there’s a veritable waterfall streaming from the top of the building where pipes are funneling water away from the rooftop. Continue reading →