And then some days you are at work for 14 hours, the last two of which are spent discussing the dismal job prospects in your field, and then you get to ride home in a dark and heavy rain, slowly, slowly. Meh, can’t win ’em all.
rain
Clouds Over Lake Pontchartrain
We’ve had nothing but blue skies for what seems like weeks, so today’s spluttering rain and clouds were a bit of a rude awakening. I guess at some point we will have days that feel like they belong at the end of October. I hopped on the Surly with hopes for good weather luck and headed down to the Treme for the second half of the football game. Nothing good on this given Sunday, so I hoped the ride afterward would be better. It was. Continue reading
Satellite Dishes and Overgrowth at Piety and Chartres
I didn’t ride my bike yesterday. I didn’t do much, actually, other than walk to the grocery store for cat food, sour cream, and lettuce and then watch TV. It was the perfect lazy reset kind of day. I got up this morning and did some reading and writing and looking at work I didn’t want to look at and figuring out what to do about it. After the game I took my frustrations out on my bicycle, pedaling as fast as I could to K.’s house for a meeting. That meeting had its own frustrations, so I headed down to the Bywater afterward to meet R. at W.’s house. Continue reading
Blue Sky and Clouds Over Majestic Mortuary at O.C. Haley & St. Andrew
I checked the weather before I left the house for a quick ride downtown, and it looked like some clouds, slight chance of rain, so no worries, right? I headed out to meet a sky that was half dark clouds and half that perfect blue. I stopped to take this photo when I turned onto O.C. Haley at St. Andrew. Yeah, rain was following me. It caught up with me at City Hall, where I stopped to do a little early voting (Saturday, people–get to the polls!). I went in under these same half-and-half skies but came out to torrents of rain. We needed it. I pedaled on under the spits that follow a storm, stopping at the gym and then heading to the Treme for a night an evening with friends. I rode back Uptown in cool(ish), humid air. Delightful.
Ferns Growing on a Building at S. Peters and St. Joseph
I finished up a project I’ve been working on for some months today, so as a reward, I gave myself the afternoon to ride my bike around, drop into a National Park Visitor’s Center–you know, the usual Friday afternoon of a National Park/bicycle obsessed academic. I put my passport in my pannier and thought to toss a poncho in there, just in case. Well, I made it to the Pontchartrain Expressway underpass when the sky just opened up. Sigh. I waited for awhile underneath the expressway, hoping it was one of those momentary summer thunderstorms. I impatiently put on my bright yellow poncho, thinking I could make it to the Quarter, but man, that kind of rain, when you wear glasses? Impossible. I hung out under an overhang for awhile longer until suddenly the rain was just gone. Weather in this place is nuts. I continued on my way and took a left at N. Peters to shoot down to Decatur. I stopped to take a picture of this white brick building on the corner of N. Peters and St. Joseph. You can’t tell in this picture, but there’s a veritable waterfall streaming from the top of the building where pipes are funneling water away from the rooftop. 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
Oak Tree and Gray Sky Over Tulane
All that humidity? Yeah, it was a long preamble to today’s downpours. It was sunny and thick when I left for work this morning, but by the time class had let out the streets were ponding with water and I was wishing I’d gotten those fenders on the Surly yesterday. Always tomorrow with the damn fenders! Anyway, I poured the rain out of my helmet and headed to the library to pick up a book I’ve been anxiously awaiting via that magic bit of socialism known as Interlibrary Loan. Continue reading
Chico’s Parking Lot at Magazine and Joseph
So when I first moved to New Orleans, the only grocery store I knew about was the Winn-Dixie on Tchoupitoulas, the regular grocery of my department chair/tour guide. I went there upon arrival to get a few things to make a first dinner in this city I hadn’t even visited before rolling up in the Hyundai Accent a few days before. There were no fresh tomatoes at the Winn Dixie. In August.* Continue reading
Waiting Out a Rainstorm on Royal and Governor Nicholls
It was another stormy day in New Orleans, but I really, really, really needed to ride my bike. That meant breaking one of my unofficial biking rules that I learned from my dad: never start a ride in the rain. No such choice today, so I put on my quick-dry skirt and raincoat, tied a plastic bag on the fancy leather saddle, rolled up my waterproof pannier (thank you, Ortlieb!,) and headed down to the Quarter to meet S. for dinner before joining other friends for Treme in the Treme. Continue reading
Jessica Halem and Blanche Debris at Le Chat Noir
My internet connection was down last night and most of today, so I was sadly unable to blog when I got home from my ride. Gasp! But I”m back online, and I’ve just got to type a few words about what I saw riding my bike around yesterday. After a leisurely ride home from work and a day taking care of all the daily stuff I’m always putting off in favor of bike rides, I hopped on the Surly to catch a fundraiser for The Social Project at Le Chat Noir featuring Jessica Halem. Jessica is hilarious. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 