I didn’t get to ride my bicycle around much this past week due to a heavy workload. Fortunately, part of that workload was learning how to use software to make movies! It was so much fun, and I spent several days making my first tiny film, which you see here. But what making a movie about riding a bike around East Baltimore really made me want to do was, well, ride a bike around East Baltimore, so that’s what I did today. Continue reading
A Limousine Under Wraps in a Silo Point Parking Garage
I had a dinner date with R. in Locust Point tonight after a long day of work and other work and swimming and work. It was still warm out, but all the weather reports said temps were about to drop and rain mixed with ice was moving in. But oh, I wanted to ride a bicycle, so that’s what I did. I pedaled with rush hour traffic on the way there, up and around and down Fort Ave., a right on Steuert, and then to find a bike rack. Continue reading
Fog and Trees at Leakin Park Behind the Old Backstop at Seminole & Kevin Road
I didn’t ride a bike today, but I did take a walk with my Sunday Morning Hiking Club. We did a repeat walk around Leakin Park, and here are some of the things I saw: a rusted out backstop with the winter remains of ivy climbing up one side, stands of skinny, naked trees, the undersides of giant thrown trees caked with mud, two cupped mushroom caps on stalks poking out of leaves, piles of deer shit, the leavings of experiments and observation, piles of corn, a deer stand, a yellow-green golf ball, the front wheel and pedals of a Big Wheel, a baseball worn down to the threads, a plastic grocery bag, an empty and unmarked brown glass bottle, an old tire, green scaly mushrooms growing out of downed trees, a tiny salamander in his tiny tree bark house, a sledgehammer head, and unidentified scat. There were other things, I’m sure, but I wasn’t taking notes. All in all we maybe tramped around 1/20th of the park. Good thing there are many, many Sundays in Baltimore in my future, eh?
Gate Behind a Gate at MICA on Collington & Madison
Today’s ride took me over to East Baltimore for a tour of R.’s studio and master’s art project~inflatables, quilted ones that you can sit in and hold workshops and conversations, inside outside~I can’t wait! Her studio’s in MICA’s new-ish building for community art in East Baltimore near Johns Hopkins’ new developments, a neighborhood that as far as I can tell has been the target of a whole lot of ideas. The ride over took me on some zigs and zags, the kind I take if I’m trying to get lost, or if I’m trying to follow directions from the computaltor. Today it was the second, and as soon as I got there I knew where I was. The building’s that kind where unless you have been expressly invited, you can’t figure out how to get inside. Once inside it feels so, so different from where you were a second ago. It’s a community center ostensibly, but it does a very, very good job keeping the community outside until expressly invited in. As I was leaving I snapped the picture of a gate inside a gate with floodlights and a camera, I think, at the other end. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but the gated gate fit right in with the rest of the building. It’s complicated. And then I rode toward Fells Point for sushi, beer, a table to grade on, and the game. Once you cross to Butcher’s Hill, wow, whole different planet. Oh, Baltimore. I graded, ate, drank, hit the highs and lows of the sports fan, and then it was time to race back up the hill to catch the second half with friends. Empty street, empty streets~it’s game time.
Warrior Emporium at 1228 Light Street in Federal Hill
Oh, Friday, I looked forward to you all week. My winter class and my own research and writing have been getting in the way of doing nothing, but I reserved Friday for just that. They promised a warm one, and I missed the “90% chance of rain” memo, so I set out without gloves, hat or raincoat. Oh well. I zipped down the hill in fog for a quick stop in Harbor East and some laps in the pool. Swimming is turning out to be just awesome. Right now it’s all about concentrating on my breathing, and since I’m a beginner, I’m getting better really, really fast. And then it was back on the bike~a quick nod to the bike that has been locked to that one rack since September~and I was on my way around the harbor and up to Locust Point for the ol’ sandwich-massage-and-a-haircut hat trick. By the time I headed back home it was raining, so I just tested my brakes and then rode as fast as I could, taking shortest route instead of the one signed for bikes. I stopped on Light Street to snap a picture of the Warrior Emporium, a place that specializes in cutlery and martial art supplies, of course. It’s a perfect combination, but it just kind of feels weird. There’s a hardware store next door, another place that secretly kind of has everything~drawer pulls, nails, cat carriers, soda, and everything. What a block, eh? Every shopper’s dream. By the time I made it over to Fallsway it was really coming down, so I put my head down and sped home, still quite certain Friday was worth all the hype.
Two Row Houses at Chase & Barclay
I had to work today, but not until 1:00pm, so after getting some writing done in the morning. I hopped on the bike in sunny, almost 50-degree weather and zipped down the hill for a quick swim. I make this same ride so often–it’s like the two miles on St. Charles I used to pedal every day. I did my few laps and then raced back up the hill–1:00 comes fast when it’s a lovely day like today, and I was running late. As I made my way up Fallsway I made myself slow down enough to look around and appreciate the scene. I stopped to snap this picture at Chase, looking east to Barclay. There used to be a big pile of dirt in the foreground, but it got slowly moved across the street, replacing the row houses that were being torn down to make room for a new park. A couple weeks ago they started to get the red house ready for demolition, and the white one wore a couple strands of Christmas lights. The red one is getting closer to getting knocked down today, but it’s still there. D. walks her dog in this neighborhood, and she told me the woman in the white house refuses to sell. This might look like an abandoned block, but it’s not–she lives there, and she wants to stay. So she’s staying, and now she’ll live next to a park. I hope she enjoys it, and I hope D. keeps walking her dog over there and getting to know that neighbor across the way. I pledge to keep riding my bike by it, day after day after day, eyes open.
Banana Peel in a Tree at 32nd & St. Paul
Today’s ride took me down the hill in the dark to meet up with R. and D. for dinner. We’re all still kinda new in Baltimore, and it was good to talk to folks who are also trying to figure out how and whether to love this place. You know what makes me love Baltimore? Talking about what I love about Baltimore. And that’s what I did, and I left wanting to cancel everything and ride my bike around everywhere and see how it’s all been since I last saw it. But it was already getting late and some of us have to work tomorrow, so I just rode back up to Charles Village, a quick stop to see the neighbors at the bar, enjoying a football rout. I snapped this picture of a banana peel lodged in a tree on St. Paul Street. I wonder what *that* guy was doing. And then I put the hat back on and pedaled back down the hill to home, learning yet again that even if it feels like you don’t need your gloves if you’re only going a few blocks, you really need your gloves.
Beers on a Bar in Fells Point at Broadway & Aliceanna
Sunday’s ride took me over to Waverly to meet friends for a drive to Leakin Park before taking the bike back down the hill for a quick swim. Wow, swimming is hard and wonderful. And then it was game time. I had a coupon for a chain restaurant in Fells Point, so I biked over there and grabbed the last spot at the bar, ordering up something they called “pizza” and a beer. And then a second beer, because the Miller Lite Girls were there in tight bedazzled v-neck t-shirts handing out free beers. Continue reading
The Stonewall Jackson National Shrine in Guinea Station, Virginia
Ok, I didn’t see it from my bike today. I saw it from N.’s car. She drove me back to Virginia to pick up my car after it broke down there last week. How nice is that? People are awesome. Anyway, I didn’t see it from my bike, but it’s why I have a car, and it’s something I’ll come back and see by bike someday, because the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park has a bike map! Sometimes cars are really helpful. Anyway, this is the house where Stonewall Jackson died after one of the battles at Fredericksburg over the course of 18 months during the Civil War, halfway between the two capitals. Continue reading
View Across the Harbor at Canton Waterfront Park
I finally had time today for a slightly longer ride, and oh it felt good to be on the Surly, clipped in, and just pedaling. I headed down the hill, took a left, and zipped through Fells Point and over to Canton for a swim, and it all just felt like the right kind of home. I stopped on my way back to snap this picture at Canton Waterfront Park. It’s a familiar view at this point, the naval ships and industrial parks and rising condos and all the ugliness behind those things, but today it was all water and sky and Baltimore just felt beautiful. I made a quick stop for eggs and toast before snaking my way to Gough Street and the ride to Little Italy, back through Jonestown and up the Fallsway to home. Oh yes, that’s better.
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 