I don’t feel too hot today–I’ve got that icky feeling in the back of my throat that says something’s off. But it was such a beautiful day, and a beautiful day for a bike ride, so I sucked it up and went downtown to enjoy the sunshine and dry air and crowds at the New Orleans Bookfair and the Bywater Mirliton Festival. (I was running late–no time to stop at the Scandinavian Festival!) I snapped this picture of folks perusing one of the many tables of radical “anarchist” lit for sale. I love the guy selling the books, that cigarette lolling out of his mouth, looking too cool to do business. There were a number of vendors like this, alongside authors selling their own comics, fiction, memoir, and coloring books. My very favorite bookseller was in town from Oakland, CA; I’m always happy to see them. I love this bookfair. It is always a good collection of books and authors you just don’t see at the Borders on St. Charles. I spun over to the Mirliton fest afterward to listen to music, watch people, and table for the Metro Bicycle Coalition, a group that advocates for policies friendly to bikes and bike safety. This was my first time working with MBC, and I left excited for their upcoming Bike Bash and happy to have gotten to swoon about riding bicycles in the city with a bunch of people I don’t know. I rode home through throngs of LSU fans, their cheers pouring out of doorways, though they would ultimately be disappointed. I love how many ways there were today for people to hang out together in the sunshine in November.

I know, I’m like a broken record, but the weather is so flipping beautiful here this week. I rode around running errands this afternoon, in a skirt and tank top and sandals as my shoulders baked in the sun. In November. Man, I love living here! Those hot and humid summer months–which I also enjoy–are worth it for these pleasant fall days. Once the sun went down it was a little cooler, perfect for an evening ride. I headed down to the Bywater for coffee and some reading, and then rode out Chartres to Poland Ave. and back around to the Treme via the St. Claude bike lane. Lots of folks were sitting on porches or outside restaurants and cafes enjoying the weather and the moon. As I approached Press Street, the red railroad lights were flashing, so I slowed up to wait. This spot doesn’t have those arms that go down to keep you from crossing the tracks, but lights and noise seem to keep us from darting in front of the train. I took this picture of my bike in the bike lane, waiting with these cars, and the train moved slowly forward. Another biker rode up and in front of the rest of us, seemingly attempting to find a way through. No such luck–you just have to wait. And then the train stopped. And then it started going back the other way. And I remembered the time, late at night after going to a show, that  S. and I waited in my car as a train rolled back and forth for 45 minutes, never moving enough to let us through. Fortunately that didn’t happen tonight, and I rode over those tracks and back up St. Claude, feeling that joy of a ride with no destination.

It was a beautiful day in New Orleans today, perfect for riding around, which is exactly what I did after meeting D. for lunch in the Marigny. I rode out on St. Claude. That bike lane is still my favorite place to ride in the city. I turned on Poland and rode up and down, trying to figure out what that building was  (Poland Scrap Metal) and marveling at the strangely out of place post office. So much of that neighborhood is blighted, but the post office is brand spanking new. I crossed St. Claude going the other way and stopped to take this picture at the corner of Poland and Chartres. My nephew would have loved this sight–so much transportation, all at once, with that giant ship, the train car, and the car. And heck, I was on a bicycle. It’s still surprising to me to see ships of this size on the Mississippi River, partly because the river is so well-hidden from the city, even though the city is shaped like it is precisely because of the river. There’s so much going on around here that we just don’t see, sometimes because we aren’t looking, but often because they’re hiding stuff. I bet the naval yard here has some scary stories to tell. I spent thre rest of the afternoon and evening tooling around, enjoying the much cooler weather, reminded again to keep looking closer.

Today’s ride took me down to the Marigny  in search of a comfortable coffee shop to get some reading done. But my favorite coffee shop is on vacation! The nerve! Actually, I’m glad folks here take real vacations. We don’t do enough of that. We should all make enough money to take some time off work to be alive, methinks, but that’s a conversation for another time. It was an incredibly and sunny day, so I decided to just tool around the neighborhood, casually looking for a coffee shop I vaguely remember. I stopped on St. Ferdinand to snap a photo of the Holy Trinity Church, built in the mid-1800s to serve the German community in the area. This church is in disrepair, with No Trespassing signs posted above the doors and an overgrown yard to the side. But the church also boasts my favorite sign in New Orleans–the Certificate of Appropriateness–authorizing construction work on this historic building. I don’t know what circumstances have left the church in this condition, or what kind of work will be done when, but the building is still beautiful. Buildings that are in various states of decay and disrepair still have a life to them. This place, for example, houses several bird’s nests, still a home for them. There was also an empty cat food can sitting by the steps, and I imagine there are stray kitties who show up here for food left by friendly neighbors. I finished peeking around the building and then headed over to another coffee shop for iced tea before tooling back Uptown, grateful for another summer day on the bike.

Today was one of those perfect New Orleans Sundays, surprisingly cool and dry, blue sky, light breeze. It started with a lazy morning at home followed by a ride down to the Treme for brunch with friends, sipping champagne on the balcony in J. and S.’s newly-installed hammock. I lay there, staring up at the sky, listening to friends chatter and laugh, and felt damn lucky to be alive. The evening found me riding down the Bacchanal, a wine bar in the Bywater, for music, cheese and bread, and yes, wine. I snapped this photo on Chartres near Louisa because I just loved the color of the sky. I mean really. Look at it. It’s practically obscene. Over those train tracks and that wall is the Mississippi river, and off in the distance you can see a ship docked at the shore. I love the way the river stays hidden here, so sometimes it looks like a ship is driving down the street. This city looks like it does because of the shape of that river, but you’d never know it from biking around town. It’s a rare thing in this town to stay hidden, and that’s just what the river does. But its affects are everywhere. After a lovely night sitting out side I rode back through the Bywater for some night swimming and then back Uptown by way of the Treme, the Quarter, the CBD, Central City, and Magazine Street. Yes, it was a perfect Sunday in New Orleans, better, as always, by bike.

I took Jack out for a ride this afternoon, and it felt so, so good. It was either a little bit cooler or I’ve acclimated, and that made biking around town much more pleasant.  I planned to ride down to the Marigny hoping to find the bike shop open for a payday treat, but got sidetracked Uptown, watching a movie shoot. I asked a guy on the sidewalk if there were any famous people in it. He said, “Do you know Sylvester Stallone?” I explained that although I did not know him personally, I was indeed familiar with his work. Surprisingly, there is more on the way. (Today, though, it was Jason Statham on a Ducati…) When I finally made it to the Marigny, the bike shop was closed, so I just continued down Frenchman to Galvez and then took a right. I haven’t spent much time biking around the 7th ward. It is so different from the Marigny-side of St. Claude. And by different, I mean decimated. Flood lines aren’t visible on buildings, but you can still see them as you travel through neighborhoods. This part of town feels so empty, though the occasional porch hosts large groups of folks who clearly still call this place home. I stopped to snap this picture of the Oliver train station at Galvez and St. Ferdinand. It looks like a train graveyard, but it’s not–these trains were moving ever-so slowly down the tracks. This is, after all, one of the busiest ports in the country, and stuff still goes by train. The place might look broken down and beyond recovery, but that just depends on how you look at it, and what you choose to see.

I woke up to birthday phone calls and an empty day stretched out before me.  Yes, it was time for a bike ride. I decided to take Jack out for a tour, wherever she chose to go. We rode down to the Bywater for lunch and the over to the Lower 9th to stop by Fats Domino’s house. I decided to spend most of my birthday riding around the neighborhood, up Claiborne to Arabi and over to St. Bernard parish to see what I could see. I spotted these two chimney-like things in the sky and wanted to see what they were, especially since there were clouds of something poofing out next to them. I followed the signs to the Domino Sugar refinery in Chalmette, where I snapped this picture. I love that with my bicycle, I can just step outside and pedal, following whatever I happen to see in the distance, and see so much I would never see on bike or on foot. Today I went here, of course, but I also stopped by the Louisiana National Guard headquarters, the temporary branch of the St. Bernard public library in Arabi, a shut down off-track betting place, the remains of a the brick office of a fortune teller, a new corner store right over the Industrial Canal, art galleries in the Quarter, and so, so many other things. I spent my birthday on my bike, riding wherever grabbed my attention, sweating like a New Orleanian, especially when I stopped riding. That seemed to give the sweat a chance to really, really run. No matter. It was a fantastic day of riding and taking pictures and reflecting on this past year, which was, by all accounts, positively delicious. I can’t think of a better way to ring in a new year than on my bike. Next time, though, I’m bringing even more water.

Though I haven’t blogged in a few days, I have been on my bicycle.  Yesterday I rode to Jazz Fest, and then later to a bar in the Bywater for more music.  I took so many fantastic pictures of the jazztastic festival that I wanted to share, but by the time I got home, I was toast.  Too tired to even blog.  But I had a lovely weekend, and I encourage everyone to visit for the Fest next year, especially if the Neville Brothers play again.  God, they are so, so good.  Today was a sleepy day, and I spent it at home, grading.  I had a couple things to do up at work, so I hopped on Rhoda and headed to campus.  On the way home I convinced N. to stop for an ice cream at the Creole Creamery.  We were not the only ones who had this idea.  The line was to the door, and by the time we got our scoops (I went with peanut butter fudge), the line was just growing.  One of my favorite parts of summer is the regular cone, or snoball (which is not the same as a snow cone), but I’ve got to say, this ice cream is a bit much.  It meets the very legal limit of butterfat content, and you can taste it.  I’m glad I had a scoop today, but I think I’m going with ices for a bit.

Today was hot and humid, a little reminder of what we’ll be in for as summer gets here. I love summertime in New Orleans, so I was happy to get out on a bike ride. I headed to Mid-City to meet up with a friend for a ride to the Bywater for lunch. I could feel the sun baking my back, and it sure was. I’ve got a bit of a sunburn, unfortunately. On my way back Uptown I paused to snap this photo of an overgrown lot and decaying doorway at St. Philip and St. Claude behind Louis Armstrong Park. Why isn’t that park reopened yet? Through the bars it looks pretty nice. Shouldn’t we be able to go in, spend time in historic Congo Square? But the Treme, just across North Rampart from the French Quarter, remains in disrepair. Now, I don’t think it took on a lot of water. I think it’s a neighborhood drowned by poverty. This overgrown lot, settled between two houses across from a park, would be prime real estate in another neighborhood, another city. But here it is abandoned. I wonder if the folks shooting the new HBO series, Treme, might fix this spot up. Or maybe it’ll make it in: Total Decay Realness. Parts of the neighborhood are truly beautiful, and people have long lived full lives here. I guess I just wish these areas could be fixed up as homes or turned in to gardens or parks. I got back on my bike and headed to the levee for a ride out to Huey P. Long. Yes, it was a bike-riding day. Many more where that came from.

I had a great bike riding day yesterday.  I rode down to the Quarter to see one more panel at the PCA conference, back Uptown for drinks with friends, back down to the Bywater for wine with friends, to the Quarter for some dancing, and then back home.  I didn’t take any pictures, though.  I just rode.  It felt so good.  Today the winds were up and the weather was bad and the tornado warnings were on.  So naturally I went out on a bike ride.  I meant to just zip to the grocery store, but I forgot something very important.  It’s Easter.  New Orleans is a religious town, but I still forget that, especially considering how much time folks here spend doing, well, sinful things.  But most stores and restaurants were closed today so people could spend the holiday with friends and family.  This meant my short bike ride became longer as I rode around looking for a store that would sell me cat food, potatoes, and romaine lettuce to feed myself and my kitties.  I ended up at the Winn-Dixie over on Tchoupitoulas, along with the rest of the unprepared New Orleanians.  I snapped this picture while waiting in line with just the few groceries that would easily fit in my bike basket.  Other folks weren’t constrained by this little detail, so that line moved slowly.  Next time I tool around town on a holiday, I’m bringing Jack so I can fill up the panniers with ice cream and discounted holiday chocolates.  Priorities, people.