Three days away from my bike and I was itching to get on there and ride, heat advisory be damned. After getting some writing and researching done in the morning I hopped on the Surly and headed to campus for a quick trip to the library. Continue reading
New Orleans
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park at Decatur and St. Louis
I have been spending my free time slowly working my way through Ken Burns’s documentary project on our national parks, and I’ve been feeling a ridiculously strong urge to go enjoy our natural heritage. Mostly I’m missing mountains, though. I grew up in mountains and there’s just no substitute. But I’m 638 miles from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (yes, I’ve been doing a lot of googleymapping, wishing I were rich in time and money), and those don’t really count as mountains anyway–not when you know about the Owyhees, the Rockies, the Sierra Nevadas, the Tetons. Continue reading
New Rouse’s Sign on the Sewell Cadillac Chevrolet Building at Baronne and Girod
After a long morning of reading and writing I took the bike down to the Marigny to meet D. for a study date at her regular cafe. It was sunny and cloudless and hot, and by the time I made it downtown, my eyes were stinging with sweat. How do I keep my eyes clear, folks? Do I need to wear a sweatband under my helmet? Sigh. Anyway, I rode back Uptown for a meeting and passed this sign for the new Rouse’s that’s going in where the Sewell Cadillac Chevrolet dealership used to be, on Baronne and Girod. Continue reading
Construction at Monroe and Earhart
I had the afternoon free after meeting my writing goals in the morning, so–surprise, surprise–I took the bike out for a ride. After bzzzzzzzing for Spain with N., I rode over to the Mississippi River levee patch and zipped quickly along with a strong tailwind. Oh, it was so beautiful out there today and the river was running high and the sun was warm and I had nowhere to be. Yeah, it was that sort of day. Continue reading
Wheelbarrows on Harrison in City Park
After a storm dropped buckets and buckets of rain on us (thanks for the ride to brunch, S. and J.!), I hopped on the Surly for a holiday afternoon pedaling around town. I headed for Bayou St. John and City Park to see if I could find some July 4th revelers, but alas, there were few. I think it’s true that most folks go out of town for the holiday weekend. Either that or the brutally hot temps were keeping people close to air conditioning. But I love riding in the heat, and today I was in the mood to sweat. Continue reading
View From the Fifth Floor of the Odgen Museum of Southern Art
Oh, it was such a lovely day in New Orleans. After catching the second half of the soccer game–I’m sure glad I don’t have to play Germany in the World Cup–I headed out on the bike, destination: post office. The sky was gray and there was a bit of rain, but not enough to put a damper on things. I rode up to the library via Saratoga, watching the neighborhoods change, half a block by half a block. Continue reading
Chainring on a Bike at Exchange Place and Conti
I’ve been struggling with some writing I’ve been doing lately–the professional kind–and it’s been frustrating. Sometimes I feel like I’m just spinning my wheels, and not in that happy-bicycling kind of way. When I get stuck in a rut like this it’s usually a good idea to get on my bike and pay attention to stuff that has nothing to do with me, so when S. invited me out to dinner at a fancy restaurant, I thought sure, I’ll ride down to the Quarter, savor some savories, empty the brain. Continue reading
Trash Cans and a Chair on St. Claude Between Governor Nicholls and Barracks
It rained all day long again–the outer bands of Alex, I’m told. I moved my car to higher ground (just six feet one way or the other makes a difference on my street) and stayed inside, writing and reading and listening to weather. I finally had to leave the house for a meeting with a student, so I put on the bike shoes and pedaled, figuring moving faster would mean less sogginess in my umbrella-less future. Continue reading
Steps at Baronne and MLK
I am back in New Orleans, thank goodness. I was only out of town for a couple of days, but I’m kinda sorta addicted to riding my bicycle around so I was happy to back on the Surly, planning to zip around all day long. Unfortunately the weather had other ideas. It rained all day. All day. Continue reading
Sunflowers at Baronne and Erato
Today was the last day of summer school–school’s out!–and I spent the afternoon bouncing around town, lunch with N., pinkberry with S., and racquetball with R. It felt good to get some sun on this most lovely day. I rode up Baronne realizing it had actually been a week or two since this particular route in the daytime; I hoped those sunflowers over on Erato would still be in bloom. Continue reading
