okkate

Train and Graffiti at Chartres and Lesseps

June 5th, 2010

I woke up this morning hoping the rain would stay at bay for just one afternoon so I could get a real ride in. I wrote my daily words by 10am, stopped by the bike shoppe for cleats for my new bike sandals, and headed to class. The thunder started, but no rain. Until, of course, I was heading home. I managed to avoid a downpour until I headed back out to meet friends for lunch. Oh, the sky just opened up. It was incredible. I was soaked to the bones by the time I made it the half a block to an overhang to duck under. Sigh. The late afternoon, though, was threatening but didn’t follow through, so I rode downtown to zip up the St. Claude bike lane, enjoying the feel of easy spinning. I turned on Poland and then took a right at Chartres. I stopped to take a picture of a train stopped along the Mississippi. Graffiti artists have been out in full force; somebody has tagged this box with a dead fish labeled “BP.” That train is carrying some kind of liquid gas and that box is holding electrical equipment. But the amount of energy consumption represented in just this shot isn’t something I usually notice, because the free and easy use of gas and other forms of power is something I take for granted. I rode back up Chartres and over to Mid-City for an iced tea and some reading, thinking about how much we barely know how to see anymore.