I just haven’t been getting my bike rides in lately, what with trips and visitors and hard rains, and it is starting to grate on me. I mean, I need to ride my bicycle, and I need rides to stop these terrible dreams about losing my bike from waking me up like one did this morning. The weather report promised rain, as did the sky, but after a lovely and lazy morning, I managed to get on the bike and pedal over to Druid Hill Park for a trip around the reservoir. Continue reading
blight
Blighted Building at Gilmor & Lafayette
It was a beautiful day and the sky was the color of what you think a blue sky should be, and I wrote my words, listened to my songs, got to meet withthe folks who I think think like me, and had plans for my evening, so all that was left was a bike ride. I happily pedaled to campus, feeling good, through West Baltimore. And then there are scenes like this, everywhere, the burnt-out abandoned houses of a city in decay. It’s complicated, to live in a city and pay attention.
Old Town Mall From the Parking Lot at Orleans & Forrest
Today’s ride took me over to Hampden for brunch and some time reading about the history of Hampden–trippy. It was a mill town, set apart from the rest of the city, populated by native-born rural whites who moved there to work in the mills, live in company housing, and shop at the company store. And then there was a strike, and they lost, because the mill owners just flat out refused to bargain. There’s more, about how public space is controlled as a way to control labor, for example, but then it was time to get back on the bike and ride on streets I’m not used to, hoping to end up vaguely downtown. Continue reading
Painted Train at Hollins & Lipps
It has suddenly turned cold in Baltimore, so I bundled up a little extra as I took my bike out to ride to campus for an afternoon “party” with the Dean and some new colleagues. The fancy fleece jacket kept me warm, but the headwind was strong enough to keep me pedaling, even on the big downhills. Sigh. Fortunately, I was in a chipper mood, so pedal, pedal, pedal I did, and it felt good. I wonder if I’ll ever get over the pleasure of the rhythmic round-and-round of the bicycle–let’s hope not. The commute now feels like it comes in four parts: down the hill, taking a right/going west, the uphilly part, and Arbutus. I snapped this picture as I took the soft left onto Lipps from Hollins. I’m guessing that used to be a brick wall, and now it’s just the remnants of one, but the leftover bits do look like a train, which is what I think is painted on here. There are so many scenes like this all over town, helped along by the seemingly endless remainders that make up Baltimore City and its canvases. But this is a pretty face to paint on the block after block after block of crumbled, abandoned, blighted, burned, and decaying homes and businesses that make up that 9.2 miles ride. But really, sometimes, what are you going to do? Gotta put some beauty in here.
Cinderblocked Vacants on Calvert & 21st
I really, really wanted to go on a long bike ride this afternoon, but just as I finished up my work for the morning the skies opened up it started raining sideways. Sigh. I spent the afternoon running errands by car until riding to Mt. Vernon to meet V. for dinner. Man, riding in the post-rain cool evening air, flying downhill, feels so, so good. It’s uphill on the way home, but I ak already used to that part. I took Calvert tonight, and stopped at 21st to snap a picture of these vacant row houses. The blight here is intense, and it changes block by block–just a couple blocks either way from this one are fully populated, but here, lots of empties. Usually they are closed up with plywood, but this cinderblocking seals them off so completely, they are like ghosts. I wonder when the blight will seem like a normal part of the background, or if it will always feel a little bit like a ghost town here.
Blighted House Over a Fence at Chartres & Marais
I was so worn out yesterday that I went to sleep far in advance of my summer bedtime, and still I woke up exhausted. I spent most of my day waiting to go to sleep, except for an interview with J. for his documentary project (I committed to film my strong opinion that democracy rules, and if you really read our Constitution and Bill of Rights, it’ll blow you away). I fully expected to stay off the bike, but once I got out on it, it was just good to pedal. I can’t believe that after riding a bike every day for years, it still never fails to lift my mood. I did a spin around the Bywater–man, I love some bike infrastructure–and stopped to visit L. and S., two dogs, and a passel of mosquitoes in L.’s backyard. I snapped this picture, dark as it is, of a blighted building over the fence. That’s New Orleans–there are signs of decay and blight over the fences, but on the other side is somebody’s backyard with dogs and projects and picnic tables. Yep, you’ve got to keep your eyes peeled.
Building Being Demolished at S. Lopez & Palmyra
Today’s bike ride took me to Mid-City for much-needed iced tea with R. before joining A. and M. for margaritas (much-appreciated, in not needed). M. has a blog where she’s taking a picture of herself every day while growing out her hair. Like my sister’s blog, where she’s logged her lunch every single day for three years (and no, I don’t think she’s missed even one day), this one sounds strangely specific, something you wouldn’t check out unless you were her mom. Continue reading
Blighted Building at Bernadotte & Baudin
I spent the day working from home on the endless revisions of this endless article, and after a lovely chat with the lovely R. who stopped by to recount yesterday’s victorious master’s thesis defense–yay!–it was time to take the bike out. I headed toward the lake ISO pelicans on this perfectly sunny spring day. I needlessly worry sometimes that that 20 mile loop will ever get old, so today I took a left after I rolled off the Jeff Davis overpass and rode around Mid-City for a bit, figuring I’d end up at the lake at some point. Continue reading
Row of Blighted Houses at Caton & St. Bernard Avenue
I tried to sit in my office and do work today, I swear. I wrote about three sentences, met with a student, wrote a recommendation letter, and had lunch with R. and chocolate with R. But then I gave in to my senioritis and the 80 degree weather and took the bike out for a ride. It was seriously windy and I couldn’t seem to find a tailwind, so my ride was a heavy pedal in low gear all afternoon. I wasn’t in any kind of hurry, so that worked for me–hill training! Continue reading
Scrap Metal at Claiborne & Erato
I spent a good bit of my day in my favorite way: on my bike. I rode down to the Marigny for a much-needed haircut and then sped right back Uptown for a doctor’s appointment (no, I don’t have a flesh-eating bacterial infection–huzzah!). The weather is just ridiculous, and it felt so good to just be flying along and getting sweaty. And it’s only February. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 