Oh, man, it was hot today. When the cloud cover is light there’s simply nothing to do but feel the heat. Which I did, as I rode Uptown to meet R. for lunch. After a lovely meal with good food and good company I got on my bike–the hot seat reminded me of at least one good reason not to wear skirts and ride–and headed toward the river to help N. move something heavy. Continue reading
Uptown
Convenience Store at Canal and N. Peters
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 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
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
Empty Lot at Claiborne and Cadiz
I rode home from work along Claiborne Avenue after grabbing a quick lunch and a few minutes of the Copa Mundial at the local burrito place. It’s a wide street–three lanes in each direction–and there’s even a shoulder. The asphalt is smooth. But it so flipping scary to ride there. The cars zip by so fast. Take the foot off the pedal, folks! Give a girl some space! Continue reading
Streetcar at Jefferson and St. Charles
I was heading Uptown to meet my old college friend S. and her pal J.M. for drinks and for some reason the ride just felt perfect. I had a bouncy song in my head and the sun was behind just enough cloud to bring the temperatures down to plain old hot. I didn’t ride yesterday, so I think I was also just happy to be on the bike and pedaling. Whatever it was, tonight’s ride felt like some much-needed play. Continue reading
Terrible Asphalt at Magazine and Julia
You know I love riding my bike around New Orleans. It’s flat as a pancake here and the weather is always perfect for a ride, assuming you don’t mind thunderstorms and 100+ heat indices, which I don’t. But our streets are, in many places, spectacularly awful. We have some repaving projects, some even including facilities for bikes–Chartres, St. Claude, Gentilly, upper St. Charles, La Salle/Simon Bolivar, Loyola–but most streets are a mess of exposed streetcar tracks, potholes, loose gravel, ridges, and all various and sundry temporary patches. Continue reading
New Playground Equipment at Wisner Center Park at Annuciation and Upperline
As I was getting on my bike to head home after enjoying the Laker blowout with N., I thought about what I was going to say about this picture I took tonight of new playground equipment at the park on Annunciation and Upperline. When I first moved to New Orleans this park was still filled with FEMA trailers, but that space is now a baseball diamond. The basketball courts have been redone. And now, finally, the rusted out swingset and aluminum overhang has been replaced with this colorful new equipment. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 