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Termite Tenting on Prytania

Kate — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:58:31 +0000

I am back on the bike after a long trip to Texas and a visit from a bike-less sister. I can't believe how much it affected me to be off the bike. I haven't felt quite right, and my timing has been off; it is as if I have been in the twilight zone. I've lost focus as my eyes have been trained away from that relationship that my bike and I have with the world.

So this afternoon I happily jumped on my bike to head to school to copy syllabi and go to a meeting before classes start tomorrow. I'm still figuring out the best route to school, and today took Prytania to Nashville and then over on Freret. I love Prytania. This street is well paved for much of it, and it's a breeze, especially when Rhoda's having chain problems. I stopped at Prytania and, I think, Robert to snap this picture of a termite tenting. These tents are usually red and white and more clearly circus-themed, something I really love about the tent if you've got to do it. This one is happily in Cal colors, my alma mater. Termites are a huge problem here. I had an infestation at the beginning of the summer and my neighbors advised me to turn off my lights to keep them away. Sometimes you've got to heed nature; it's got your number. But you can't give it your house. So you tent. I wonder, when I see these, why they look so festive as they prepare for mass death. How do they get them to fit houses of such disparate sizes? Who climbs that little ladder, and where are they going? These tents are all over this city. This is a place under siege. It's hard for me to imaging that this little project will save us from the winged pest, but I'm willing to go along. For now.

Abandoned Drug Store on Prytania

Kate — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:13:27 +0000

I have been out of town, without bicycle, for over a week, and it feels like forever. It turns out I really *do* need to ride to feel right. I have been away for good reasons to good places, but I was happy to get back on Rhoda today, if only for a task ride to the gym and back. I recently moved to a tiny cottage behind a fancy house in the Garden District, and this has changed the complexion of my task rides. Where I used to start out on bumpy roads passing an abandoned playground, I now start out on smooth roads passing fancy mansions. But the thing about this place is that even neighborhoods like the Garden District bear the marks of decay. The iron gates are sticky and missing their doorknobs, the mansion is only two houses away from an abandoned building taken over by vines. This old drug store is a case in point. Prytania in the Garden District is one ritzy street (Nicolas Cage lives on it, it is said), but this building stands empty, an old sign worn away, barely reminding us what used to be here. Now it's graffiti, stating the obvious, and still the marks of its search almost three years ago. It's good to be back on my bike, and good to be reminded that though the neighborhoods in New Orleans are very different, none of us are very far from each other.

Potholes on Prytania

Kate — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:20:09 +0000

I had a long bike ride planned for today, but you know what they say about best-laid plans. The weather is not cooperating with my desire to ride my bike and stay relatively dry. But I managed to get out for a bit, and I ran across some killer potholes. Now, the streets here are notoriously bad. The potholes are incredible. NOLA.com recently wrote up a nice cataloging system for them. After a big downpour, those potholes fill with water. This makes some of them hard to see, but others become just that much more prominent. Take this strip of potholes on Prytania, near Jefferson. This segment of street has been replaced by the entirely useless loose gravel. The water makes it turn a cloudy paste as the holes it was trying to fill just become bigger and bigger. This stretch is so pockmarked that there isn't any real way around; you've got to push on through. I snaked my bike between the two at the top left.

I narrowly missed this other scene of car, water, and backsplash. While I can snake around these potholes, cars have no choice but to drive over/through them. Good cars slow down significantly, not wanting to ruin their rims, I suppose, but sometimes I fantasize that they don't want to spray that rheumy water all over me. This particular splash left me dry, but I can't say the same about the sky. I wonder if the roads here will ever be fixed, really, or if the temporary patching system that seems to have taken over will one day make all our roads look and feel like the surface of the moon. When I do manage to find a smooth street, such as sections of Baronne, or lower Magazine, it feels like a wonderful gift. I used to take that kind of street for granted. No more.

theflyingmccoys — Mon, 12 May 2008 06:33:18 +0000

I od dzisiaj będe dodawał bonusy z komiksu Cyanide and Happiness :)