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Public Comfort Station at Broadway & Aliceanna

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Today’s ride first took me up the hill to Hampden for a haircut and a writing session before heading back home for more Fun With Laundry. The ride felt strained, and I wasn’t sure if that was because I was still sleepy or because I missed my morning coffee, but the afternoon ride taught me it was because my rear tire was low on air, and I felt the difference as I headed back to meet V. for a little shopping. Oh, a freshly pumped bike, a crispy red apple, and a stroll in the sun–summertime, hurry up! I don’t know, everything looked particularly full of color this afternoon, and that was true for my ride down the hill to Fells Point. I had to use the restroom, so I stopped at a bar for a beer and a snack, having no other choice. As I was locking my bike I noticed the Public Comfort Station across the street. I’m not sure if it’s open, but I hope so. We all have to pee, and yet our public spaces generally refuse to acknowledge that simple fact. And that makes things hard for lots and lots of people. Don’t even get me started on the trouble with sex-segregated toilets. I wish we could figure out a way to make basic facilities available to more people in more places, as did Baltimore, whenever they put in this place. The best part of being here right now, though, is that I get to ride my bike home, and there’s a dinner with friends on the way.

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Crowd at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall at Cathedral & Park

Tonight’s ride took me flying down the hill with S. to meet V. for a night with David Sedaris at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The place was crowded with the adult children of Baltimore Symphony Orchestra crowd, and I scanned the place for familiar faces as we climbed the stairs to our seats in the sky, expecting to see all my colleagues from work or folks who share my coffee shops, but it was just an undulating mass. Continue reading →

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Crumbling Building at Druid Park Lake Drive and Brookfield

After a couple days with too much work and too much wind for a bike ride, S. finally got me back on the bike as we rode up to Druid Hill Park where she ran and I rode in circles. The sky was blue and white clouds and gray drips, because half the city was raining, but it stayed dry as I pedaled around and around, keeping my mouth closed so I didn’t eat the pink petals blowing around like snow. Continue reading →

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Trees and Blue Skies at Little Bennett Regional Park

I spent my weekend with S. and her family in Damascus, Maryland, which meant no bicycling for me (though when the folding bicycle gets here, that won’t happen again). On the plus side, I got to go on a couple of lovely walks, one along a paved path where I saw a gajillion deer, and today’s at Little Bennett Regional Park. The sign said bikes were invited, and I thought about how maybe I should have a mountain bike, but then I reminded myself that sometimes it’s good to take a walk, and you can see entirely different things on a walk that you can see from a bike, so perhaps it’s best that sometimes my feet are on the ground. Continue reading →

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Pink Carnation Flower Tree at Druid Hill Park

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I had a busy last few days of the week and didn’t get a ride in, and I am going out of town for the weekend, so this morning I decided I best get in a quick pedal in order to preserve my sanity. I put on some bike shorts and a jacket made especially for bicycling, marvelled at how much faster that outfit made me feel, and headed up the hill and over to Druid Hill Park. I did a number of laps and thought about what you get to see if you do the same ride over and over again. I watched the leaves on these trees turn brown and fall, waited as they stayed all twiggy, watched them turn green with buds, and then burst out in two rounds of flowers. Now they.are this, puffy pink popcorn balls, row after row. On the other side of the round is a row of blighted buildings that have been crumbling, and today I noticed the one on the end~the roof has fallen in. I have a feeling I’ll be watching the trees change and buildings fall and maybe get built for a long, long time. I did my last lap and zipped down the hill to home. Yep, when in doubt, take the bike out.

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Birds on an Island in Druid Hill Reservoir

Today’s ride took me up the hill to Hampden to the coffee shoppe for some afternoon writing. I was pretty tired from a marathon day yesterday and some ill-advised late night TV viewing and it all made the uphill-in-the-wind feel unnecessarily hard. I got myself in an easy gear and let myself spin along until I got to the top. It was downhill on the way home, so I just let myself fly in the sunshine over to the park to do some laps. Continue reading →

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Maryland Families Rest at the Heart of the State’s History at the Maryland Historical Society in Mt. Vernon

Today’s bike ride took me up the hill through Hampden and then over to Roland Park to meet V. for lunch and some reading and writing. Roland Park is so fancypants, what with its Greek-columned mansions hidden behind personal forests and Tuxedo pharmacies and complicated cul de sacs that are hard to figure out unless you live there. It’s like an entirely different city, that place. Continue reading →

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Tree and Empty Lot at Aisquith & Autumnleaves Ct.

Today’s bike ride took me down the hill toward Baltimore’s impressive and frightening carceral complex for the Youth Justice Sunday event. I was a little late and missed the march, so I pedaled around, trying to find the crowd. I heard the police helicopter flying over head and tried to follow it, figuring the cops would be on the case, as they have been at every single march or rally I’ve been to in this city. Continue reading →

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Adding Herstory to History at 39 Lexington on the Westside

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Today’s bike ride took me down the hill to meet L. for breakfast in Fells Point and then some reading at the coffee shoppe. 10am is apparently very early for Baltimore City, because I just zoomed straight down the hill, passing just a couple of cars and a few people, but mostly I felt like the only person in town, and the street were mine. It was awesome. Afterward, I pedaled over to the Westside and past the busy crowds pouring out of Mariner Arena where the circus is in town~not my favorite event at all. I dodged pink-jacketed girls and sticky boys before taking a right on Lexington to the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center for my scheduled tour–nothing like a little civic history on a lazy Saturday afternoon. The Center is small right now, but the plans are big. There was a mix up, so the tour was self-guided. Folks lined up to read about Great Women of Maryland Science and Space and Education and Health Care, but I have to admit that I wasn’t much in the mood for individual success stories. There’s only so much recuperative history this cat can take, and secretly I want museums to raise questions rather than tell me these individual stories, though I know how important those are too. I left early, promising myselfto return, and got myself a front row seat for the roller ballet. Best laid plans indeed, but since all I really want to do is ride my bike around, I’d say it’s a win.

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Billie Holiday Memorial at Pennsylvania & W. Lafayette

The weather report said it might rain, and a glance at the sky assured me that it would, so of course I put on a skirt and a light jacket and headed out for a long bike ride to campus–oh, the curse of aspirational dressing! I was cold all day. Regardless, it just felt good to be on my bike after three days off due to what I’ve decided was a pollen-induced multi-day headache. I zoomed down the hill and then took my right through Bolton Hill and Marble Hill over toward Upton. Continue reading →