The sharp morning air cut me like a slinky Mexican stiletto, deep, to the bone,biting with no promise of relief or mercy. Colder weather is promised from the calendar but for right now the relativity of cold tortures me. Leggings, sleeves, kerchief, scull cap , gloves with fingers all helped, nothing can stop the wind from beating me like haunted chain slung by a ogre of huge proportions. The North wind carries with it a revengeful bite to share a taste of the misery heaped on northerners every winter . My pace was brisk, blood flow helps warm up the muscles, brain stays numb for about 2 hours, headed downtown on the levee, pedaled my ass off to get off that windy exposed levee, finally at Audubon park the shady Oaks harbored more cold, "get in the sun", I remind myself. The squirrels laugh at me, cozy in their leaf and twig nest coated with fur and grass, high above the predators, safe at night, in a storm, rain, snow, I'm jealous. .
Prepared for disaster I'm packing, a banana, jelly beans, yogurt raisins, cheese crackers , 2 Gatorade's, should carry me through whatever befalls me. Its early , not many people out, took St Charles to to the empty torn up quarter, break on the river, boring, cold, not hanging around.
Elysian Fields to the Lake front, tried to turn right but stopped by the Levee Board Police Officer, "there's a race he says" , "can't go this way", " yea but I know Sally Louviere", he didn't care. Headed to Bonnabel Boat Launch only 3 trailers parked , not much fishing today, the same beer tasters (being nice) that hang out at the shelter so no one else can use it, circled around a 57 Chevy, were on duty, they keep playing that song, stuck in the 50"s, poor bastards, I hate to be the one to tell them man landed on the moon and Elvis is dead. They smear Brylcream on their bald heads for old time sake. I'm down to Yogurt raisins and Gatorade, up West Esplanade , transcontinental , West Napoleon one trip around the park and got my 45 miles, 25 sit ups and a Nutella sandwich. Sunday was better, didn't start to ride till after church, I usher at the 8:00 am my hypocrisy mass, always looking for a way to shorten my purgatory time on that unpadded folding chair surrounded by white haired 80 year old women walking around with tablespoons clanging $5 cans of cat food "here kitty", "here Kitty", and the cats not only have Cheshire grins, but laughing , their tails straight up to expose what they really think of humans, that's giving them credit for thinking. I dont' want to offend cat lovers, actually cats are very smart, I saw one driving a car yesterday, he did miss a turn signal though. After mass I took a different route, like I was guided by divine intervention. I rode Airline Suicide Drive down to Palmetto Dr. intending to take Palmetto Dr to Carrollton then St Charles to Audubon. I crossed the overpass over Airline , speeding down Palmetto about to cross the first intersection my new eyes spot a book in the street, as I approached I could see it was a Bible , how ironic I thought", couldn't leave it there in the street, I turned around and faced traffic coming down the same overpass their right wheels, like me, headed straight for the bible, without though for my own life I stopped over the bible , parked my bike, grabbed the bible, jumped to the sidewalk all before the first car got there, luckily they saw no one on the bike so they just cruised around it. It was a nice Bible , fortunately the owners name was inscribed on the cover, I felt a good chance of getting it back to the owner, across the canal down the street the Church there was open inviting people in , serving lemonade, I rode over, asked the lemonade lady if the bible owner may be a parishioner, not only yes, but she knew her , would give her her bible and couldn't stop blessing me for my good deed, "lady" ,I said," my folding chair just got closer to the exit door in purgatory". Went on my way , Carrollton and Earhart an acre lot planted neatly with vegetables and flowers, across the street from Notre Dame Seminary, I stop, take pictures, a tractor edges the lot, I'm sure it belonged to Jeannie Rushing at one time, the vegetables were done for the season but some winter crops were planted, they had anti pest plants planted at the ends of the rows , the flowers were beautiful, then I'm knocked aback again , I finally notice that each row contains a small frame with a station of the cross, whoa, in the middle row they were growing Madonnas " not the singer" Jesus mother", you know Jesus the Savior, Jewish with blue eyes and blond hair, thanks to the Italian Renaissance, carrying on,, I ;made it to Audubon park, took my pee break , St Charles to the Quarter, hadn't changed much since yesterday. Saw my old friend , his name is "makes me look like a saint", sits in his wheel chair and plays drumsticks on a white bucket and begs the tourist for money,, then when the Natchez is about to dock , he gets up and pushes his wheel chair next block to catch that crowd, sometime s he has to run to get there in time. He plays a bucket, "like shit" it don't even sound good. What a religious awakening. I compare him to the clown that cleans your tennis shoes for 5 dollars or the crook that wants to bet you he knows where you got them shoes, I take their pictures and they hall ass. they don't' want to hear I bet I can put my shoe up your ass , they find that rude, robbing you is ok. The city needs to clear out this crap so tourist coming to the Superbowl can enjoy the city, the Harry Kristnas and their "your on camera,."buy a hat for 40 dollars to help our children's camps" . . Their Harry Kristnas not the Red Cross, there are no cameras . I think a roundup of all the morons that paint themselves silver or gold and stand still over their panhandling bucket should be placed on top the buildings to keep the pigeons from crapping on the buildings. I don't see much talent or need for them or the 50 Jamaicans that put on a tumbling show across from the square, does that fit in with the blues , jazz,, Fench, Spanish, Creole heritage we want to show off, "Jamaican tumbling"..sophisticated panhandling. I do pray that someday Jesus will walk out of St Louis Cathedral with a whip and clear out the fortune tellers. Royal street does have some good bands on the street, Mykeshia Lake from the Lawyer commercials started there. she plays in clubs and shes good. All part of the spiritual Day I was having, I leave the quarter and take Esplanade "the roughest street in New Orleans" toward bayou St John to the Lake, well to my surprise it's been blacktopped, whoa, only to Rampart, how convenient. Stopping at the Bonnabel Boat Launch all was the same , the same guys were there worshipping a Corvette, and an old truck that looked like it was painted with a cheap brush and some watercolor. Made my way to Lafanierre park, thought I'd take a few laps , but no, it was pet day, jammed with people and animals, I thought I saw some goats,I was gonna bring my Chubracabra to suck a little goat blood, I was mistaken, it was giant ferrets. Well back home, 25 sit ups , a hot bath, a trip to the nursing home to see mom. that really made me feel sane after this day. Its like they handed out wheelchairs in the quarter. I return to my metal unpadded folding chair till next weekend. Happy Thanksgiving....thank someone for something.
gary
 |
