Today’s ride took me to Hampden for a late brunch, and then I followed the signs to Roland Park, because there’s nothing I like to do more than follow signs until the signs give out. Roland Park doesn’t look like the other parts of Baltimore I travel through regularly. I mean, this is where that 1% lives, for real. Continue reading
Baltimore
John W. Brown Liberty Ship at Fells Point
I spent this chilly Saturday at home and reading my book, which is so, so good, and intense. It makes me angry that I was never taught about Jim Crow in a real way, and Isabel Wilkerson is teaching it in such a real way. This book should be required reading, by everybody. But anyway. It was finally time to peel myself out of bed and get on the bike, so I headed down to the museum to check out some Maryland-specific Jim Crow history–this here kid knows how to spend a Saturday! Continue reading
Repairing a Water Main at Centre & Cathedral
I spent the morning reading and writing and finishing this and that before I had to head to the mechanic’s to pick up my *gasp* car with its new windshield and scrubbed headlights; the State of Maryland has some stringent standards before they let you drive a car on their roads. Another hour and a half waiting at the MVA and I can officially drive here! But oh my goodness, I don’t want to. I headed straight home to get the bike to run some errands. Seriously, why drive for errands when you can ride a bike, especially when The Earth finally turned the lights on? Continue reading
The Other Side of the Gym
I had to get to the office early today and stay late for a meeting, so I won’t get a chance to ride my bicycle today. I did, however, have time to hit the student gym where the only open cardio machine was the stationary recumbent bicycle. I haven’t been on one of those things since a shoulder injury and surgery left me with no other option–and thank goodness the option was there–but I went ahead and hopped aboard to see what it’s like. I mean, am I going to be sitting on that thing all through the winter season? God, I hope not. So boring. I like riding a bicycle because I like seeing what’s going on outside, the people, the neighborhoods, the streets, whatever (though I did get a chance to memorize all the teams in the America East conference, since their banners were the only things in my line of sight). It was also so much easier to just pedal in place–no cars or wind or weird folds in the asphalt or acorn shells trying to toss my wheel to the side–and that’s just not my speed. I like thinking about riding a bicycle when I’m riding my bicycle. Spin, spin, spin, la dee dah, and I was done, happy to have been moving, but a little scared about this thing You People call “winter.” I will have to find a way to bike and walk in wintery weather, because my soul cannot be forced to die on the recumbent bicycle.
Brick Supports Under the Baltimore Basilica
I didn’t have to go to the office today, so I spent the morning reading for fun before taking the bike down to the coffee shoppe to meet V. for a little reading and writing and eavesdropping on our neighbors. I got some good thinking done and then it was time to get back on the bike for a quick stop at the fancy public library for my brand spankin’ new library card and then across the street to visit the Baltimore Basilica, America’s First Cathedral, designed and built from 1806-1821, because there’s little I like more than a visit to a place with tours or history or at least a brochure. Continue reading
Retro Water Fountain in Druid Hill Park
I did not want to ride my bicycle today, surprise surprise. I was tired after a long weekend and a long day, but I knew if I got myself on the bike I would be glad I did, and I was. I headed toward the park, up the hill, pant pant pant, and turned onto the Jones Falls Trail. I narrowly avoided a head-on collision with a bike, and another bike after that (we might need a light at that particular intersection) and ended up at the reservoir. I did a lap as fast as I could to get out some nervous energy and then slowed down a bit to do a second lap. I dodged a whole bunch of pedestrians, got lapped by other cyclists, and avoided the guy doing shoulder raises as he sped-walked around the oval. I stopped at this water fountain at the entrance/exit and groped around the thing trying to figure out how to get water to come out. Um, there’s a foot pedal. And when you press down on it–with your foot–the drain-thingy on the inside rattles and rises up, and then there’s the gurgling until the water sputtered out. It was like stepping back in time! Thank you, Murdock, and I hope this one lasts a hundred years, like they say it could. I rode home via Hampden, up and down the hills, happy to be back on the bike.
Baltimore City Police Department 24/7 Believe Blue Light Camera at 22nd & Calvert
Tonight’s ride took me down to the pizza place for dinner and wine with the new colleagues. We were set to meet at 7:00pm, the same time that Troy Davis was set to die at the hands of the state of Georgia. It was a strange feeling, riding my bike down the hill for pizza when the state was setting up to kill a man. Continue reading
Streetscape Sculpture at the Public Works Museum at the Inner Harbor
Today’s bike ride took me over to Hampden for my favorite brunch and some work in my workbook and then down to the Inner Harbor to check out the art show. I did a quick zip around the booths and then decided to hit up the Public Works Museum, because I love me some public works–sewer systems, water treatment, streetlights and stoplights, all of it. Continue reading
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Meeting at the Mound at Camden Yards
I woke up early even though I didn’t have to, because I can’t help it, so why not drive to DC early, sneak in a National Park visit before my lunch date with J. and E.? Piscataway Park was lovely, but driving into DC wasn’t. Why people ever drive is beyond me–it just makes me anxious, and there’s no reason I should bother learning to deal with that anxiety. Take the bus–lesson learned. As I drove back into Baltimore, the lights were already on at Camden Yards, reminding me there was a game tonight. Driving makes me want to die, but a bike ride and a lazy evening watching baseball? Yes, please. I rode down here, locked up to a rack, bought a ten dollar ticket and a seven dollar beer, and settled in to watch my new team take on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a meaningless game, for us, at least. That doesn’t mean I didn’t thoroughly enjoy watching us throttle them with five runs in the first, and this meeting at the mound didn’t seem to help. But we are only in the third, and this is baseball and we’ve got to get 16 more outs, so I best get another beer and some nachos. And then I can bike home instead of waiting to get out of the parking lot. Thank goodness.
The BSO on Stage at Meyerhoff Hall at Cathedral & Preston
So back when I got this new job in Baltimore in January but wasn’t moving until August, I got itchy about my new town, and that lead to some joining of historical societies and purchasing of season subscriptions to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. And now I live in Baltimore, and tonight it turned out I had a ticket to the orchestra. I put on a dress and some heels, strapped on a purse with my slow moving vehicle belt, and zipped down the hill to Meyerhoff Hall. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 