Wednesday was beautiful but windy, and after a morning bike ride to Waverly and back to meet with R. and O., I spent the day inside, starting a new book and catching up on rest after a busy Tuesday. And then N. came home and asked if I wanted to go on a walk. Why yes, yes I would! I followed her lead up the hill and over and up and over, passing road construction on Charles, dogs walking in Wyman Park, non-Zip Car cars parked in Zip Car Only parking at Johns Hopkins, and the Jones Falls, that part you will never see if you stay in your car, or if you never get off your bike. She took me zig zagging down to Falls Road–those switchbacks are easier on foot than on wheels–and down to what counts as a waterfall in Baltimore City. Continue reading
public housing
Chase House at Chase & Cathedral
Today was spent mostly just getting my bike ready for the weekend. I put on my skirt that’s already covered in paint and grease, my painting tank top, and my heels just for the heck of it, and brought all my cleaning and lubing and tube changing supplies to the porch. I spent the next hour or so in the sunshine, slowly and methodically wiping down top tube/down tube/stays/stem and brushing the chain and changing both tires and dropping new lube between each chain and then rubbing all of it off. When I’m working on the bike I’m only thinking about the bike, and it is just terrifically relaxing. Continue reading
Spanish American War Monument at Fayette & Lakewood
It was another rainy, windy day, but I wanted to ride my bike, so I bundled up and took the bike down the hill for some research with my lunch and then snaked my way through East Baltimore and past some of the city’s public housing developments. I just moved to Baltimore, like five seconds ago, so in my mind, the Inner Harbor has always been part of a fancy downtown, and in my experience, cities don’t put their public housing so close to the tourist areas. Continue reading
Abandoned Public Housing at Mazant & Law
I was feeling a little out of sorts today, which is almost always a sign that it’s time to take a bike ride, so that’s what I did with my late afternoon, and yep, that’s exactly what I needed. The bike ride never fails to either get me out of my head or let me settle into it, depending on what I need. I first rode over to the JJPL offices to drop off a check to W. in exchange for his presentation to my students about gender, youth, and prisons in New Orleans. After chatting a bit, I zipped downtown to the St. Claude bike lane where I could pedal in rhythm (except for all those trucks parked in the bike lane–sigh). I took a left and tooled around the upper ninth, stopping at Mazant and Florida to snap a picture of this public housing, abandoned, like much of this neighborhood, covered in graffiti, behind barbed wire fencing. Continue reading
Harmony Oaks at Toledano and Willow
I took a couple days off the bike, so it was especially nice to get back on and go spinning about town today. I headed up to campus for a meeting and some libraries and got that first whiff of back-to-school–love it! But it’s still summertime, so this evening I got on the bike and headed to Mid-City to meet friends for dinner. I passed the new Harmony Oaks development starting at LaSalle. Continue reading
St. Thomas Housing Development at Chippewa and St. Andrew
School in session has meant a whole lot more work. I fear my job is getting in the way of my mindless riding around town. Today, after my commute to and from work, I hopped back on the bike and tooled down to the Marigny for coffee and writing with S. I rode down Chippewa, through the St. Thomas Development. Continue reading
Sky Above the St. Thomas Development
Yes, this really is a picture of the sky in New Orleans today. That blue is ridiculous. I was riding down to a coffee shop to do some reading, and decided to get off Magazine Street and enjoy the occasionally smooth pavement of Laurel Street. This neighborhood–part Irish Channel, part Lower Garden District–is incredibly mixed. Continue reading
Halloween Decorations at Octavia and Annunciation
I had the day off today and spent part of it tooling around town on the bike before settling in to get some work done. It’s mid-October here, so that means it’s time for Halloween. I have lived lots of places, but never one where so many put so much into decking out their houses for this particular holiday. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 