Mt. Vernon

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Tall Flowers in Charles Village

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It was a beautiful day for bicycling today-warm, clear blue skies, the farmer’s market and the Love Parade and Bike Jam in Patterson Park and all kinds of summer events best bicycled between. But the cat was having issues, so instead she went in her box and and we drove to a drop-in clinic and waited and waited, leaving with a lighter wallet, some antibiotics, and yowling from all involved parties. When S. called to see if I wanted to join her and friends for brunch I squeaked out a yes and took the Surly-I wanted to feel at home-and sped down the hill for a lovely late meal in the sunshine before biking back up the hill to see if the cat could be coaxed to leave the safe confines of the inside of a boxspring. I snapped this picture of some tall yellow flowers blooming in Charles Village; summer, you are so pretty, and I trust you’ll provide many more days of bicycling to make up for my having to miss this particular one.

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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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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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Flower Detritus at Guilford & McAlister

As I’m sure you know, we’ve all been having a heat wave of science fiction proportions. Yesterday in Baltimore it was EIGHTY FIVE DEGREES. That’s summertime weather, and we’re just on March’s downhill. I loved having that weather for my week off. I got in some wonderful bike rides, and Thursday’s trip to DC was a feast with all those cherry blossoms and 15 miles of strolling through neighborhoods, monuments, and museums (a perfect situation for a tiny clown bike, I must say). This morning, though, started with a thunderstorm and rained off and on all day long, giving it the feel of spring instead of summer. Continue reading →

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Flowering Tree at S. Ellwood & Hudson

I woke up early this morning with an overwhelming desire to play hooky, and I grumped around for awhile until giving in to the senioritis. After a trip to school for some lazy research and a faculty meeting it was time to get on my bike and out in this 80 degree blue sky day–oh, it was perfect out there. Continue reading →

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Looking West Down North Avenue From Guilford

Oh,  it feels like springtime! I put on a dress and a sweater, some short white socks, and my bike shoes and headed out to the coffee shop, flying down the hill. I peeked down at my bare legs and clips going round and round, and I saw my near future. Oh, sunshine and warmth, I’m so looking forward to our time together. Continue reading →

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Baltimore Irish Northern Aid Society at Charles & Franklin

Today’s ride took me down the hill to meet friends for lunch and then a walk over to Charles Avenue for the St. Patrick’s Day parade (and no, I don’ t know why it was today). This is my third parade in Baltimore, and S. reminded me not to go in to compare this parade to New Orleans parades–they’re totally different things–and to see what fun I might get out of this one. I heeded this most excellent advice and leaned back on my heels for 90 minutes of Ancient Orders of the Hibernians, Irish dance teams, beauty queens, and bagpipers. Continue reading →

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A Gentleman’s Room at the Maryland Historical Society at W. Monument & Tyson

I’ve been spending an awful lot of time over the past few months reading about museums and historical societies and historical parks and monuments and such, so today I figured it was time to visit one of those places to see what I might see now, after all that. I hopped on my bike in the much cooler and much windier weather and headed down the hill. I settled on the Maryland Historical Society, which I thought a lot about this week while reading about Fred Wilson and his work, Mining the Museum. Continue reading →

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Rating the Pleasantness of Touch at the Walters Art Gallery at Centre & Cathedral

Oh, it was another beautiful day in Baltimore, and I spent much of it in bed reading until finally the sun insisted I get my little self out and on my bike for a ride. I headed over to Hampden for brunch and then took the Jones Falls Trail toward downtown for a quick turn through the Walters Art Museum. Continue reading →

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View From Terrace Center Left, Row B, 113 at Meyerhoff Hall

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I spent the morning with reading and writing, lunchtime with work, the afternoon with S., and the evening with myself. That’s when I took the bike, and we rode down to Mt. Vernon for dinner before settling into my seat for some music I don’t understand. It’s a surprisingly lovely day, made so much the better by the bike ride to and fro.