Bike & Air & Water & Chai
This is the best time of the year to be outdoors in New Orleans. The humidity goes down, the wind picks up a bit, it rains more frequently, and the general temperance of the weather is reminiscent of spring in the northerly parts of the country.
This afternoon, I spent a couple of hours on my balcony, reading. I lugged an end table and my office swivel chair out there and just sat, reading and enjoying the wind and the climate in general.
After a while, given the weather's lift to my spirits, I put on some more outdoorsy clothes and went biking. I biked through the garden district down Chestnut Street, through the CBD and into the Quarter, which was quite busy for a Sunday afternoon. I rode around aimlessly for a while and then rode over to the Riverwalk, which is a pier-like thing with stores and restaurants and such. I parked my bike at the railing, meant protect the unwary from straying 15 feet down into the muddy expanse of the Mississippi River, and just vegetated. I listened to the wind and the water, watched the barges and ships pass by, and I breathed. I had long been meaning to see the water again; for some reason I had been missing it. Finding myself with an idle Sunday afternoon provided me with just such an opportunity to see it again. It's something I will have to make time for in the future.
My skin now smells like seabreeze.
Now I'm back home, as I left the riverfront as it was getting dark. I've made a cup of chai (Stash green tea + chai = cinnamony goodness), and I'm about start work in about ten minutes. At 9:30 I'll turn on the Detroit Red Wings game on ESPN2, and watch it as I work.
I am very tired.