It’s cold and windy in Baltimore, but I needed to go on a bike ride today, badly. I remembered my father’s insistence that “there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing,” piled on my wool and layers, and hopped on the bike to see what was happening out there today. I flew down the hill to downtown and then took an unexpected left to follow the anti-marriage equality truck to a rally at War Memorial Plaza that was ostensibly “Not a protest. Not a festival. Not a rally. Not a time for speeches, sermons, stumping or pontification.” Continue reading
Plants on a Ledge in Front of a House at Exeter & Fawn
It has felt like weeks since I last got to ride my bicycle. I was busy heeding the weather warnings and staying inside as Hurricane Sandy approached the east coast, and then I was busy catching up with work at work. I took the bike out for a very quick ride to see a show on Halloween, but that didn’t even count. Today I got to ride the bike all the way to Harbor East and back–hooray! Ok, still a rather short ride, but at least today I got get myself pedaling a bit. It took about three blocks for everything to feel sunnier, even if the skies are still gray, like they’ve been for over a week. Continue reading
Lit Up Rat at the Lantern Parade in Patterson Park
S. got her bike new wheels and cables and brakes after it got stripped earlier this year, which means S. has a bike now. That means we can ride bikes together places–this is most excellent news! Tonight she came over in her cow suit with a skeleton suit for me, and we got to zip down the hill and to the left for the Lantern Parade in Patterson Park. Continue reading
Bike Party Gathering at Mt. Vernon Square at Monument & Charles
It was a long, long week at work, so by the time Friday rolled around, I was a sleepy bee. S. was right, though–we had to get on our bikes and head down to the Bike Party, at least for a little bit, to check out the hundreds of people in costumes ready to take over the streets. I couldn’t get it up to put on more than socks and a sweatshirt, but S. donned her cow costume and we zipped down the new door-zone friendly bike lane on St. Paul, collecting other riders as we went before we all made the smart choice to take Maryland Avenue instead. Continue reading
Fall Colors on the Jones Falls Trail Behind the Zoo in Druid Hill Park
I didn’t feel like going for a bike ride or going to the gym or doing much of anything but crawling in my bed with a book after a long day of staring at my computalator waiting for words. But come on, I could at least go for a short ride, just up to the park and back, you know you want to. I Continue reading
Boarded-Up Building at Argyle & Lanvale
I didn’t have to go in to campus today, so I made the most of it, doing some reading and writing at home before setting out on my bike on this shockingly warm spring–I mean fall–afternoon. I pedaled the short way down the hill for a lunch date with myself and my book, and afterward went for a ride around West Baltimore with the vague plan to go to the B&O Railroad Museum to do a little research. Continue reading
Prettyboy Dam in the Hereford Zone of Baltimore County
I left my bike at home today and joined S. and J. for a hike in Gunpowder Falls State Park out in Baltimore County. Those two are fearless, but I’m a baby so we took a slow slide on mud and wet leaves above the river until we had our feet on more expansive flats. The air smelled like decaying leaves and fall and, according to S., just a little bit like licorice in a spots. We walked along, stopped to admire S.’s rock-skipping skills and J.’s apparent natural talent for the same, admired impressive mushrooms and wished for a Field Guild to Mushrooms, and enjoyed apples while sitting on a fallen tree. Continue reading
Tree Growing From a Balcony on Hamburg Between W. Ostend & Bayard
After a long morning in bed nursing an insomnia hangover, it was time to get on the bike and head out into the sunshine of another perfect fall day. I headed over to Hampden for lunch and then back downtown along the Jones Falls Trail. I stopped to check out the scene at Falls Road and ran into my downstairs neighbor, a fellow bike enthusiast. He was heading out on his bike with no destination in particular just like I was, and it was the perfect day for that. Continue reading
Empty Mail Trucks at Front & E. Lexington
It was sunny and a little breezy and I had finished up grading that stack of papers called “midterms,”and I got to get on my bike and head up to Hampden to meet V. for lunch and some window shopping. Then it was back on the bike and down the hill for a whirl around the weight machines at the gym, and then back up the hill. I didn’t have time to take much of a long way back home, so I just took an early right for a few blocks. Continue reading
Ivy Growing on Buildings at Aliceanna & S. Bethel
It was chilly in my house this afternoon so I expected to be cold when I headed down the hill on my bike, but now–it was all blue skies and sunshine and the heat on my back. It was also one of those days where cars seemed out to get me, so I hunkered down into my defensive driving mode, which includes a lot of following the rules of the road–yeah, it was a slow trip. I locked up, did a whirl around the gym, and then took my grading to a restaurant for a snack and a much slower whirl through the pile of papers. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 