Inaugural ride around the lake (and first night in my new place)

Last night was the first spent in my new place. With most of the fleas eradicated and thanks to AC I was comfortable and got some sleep. I still need to figure out a way to get rid of the pesky creatures living in the lawn outside. Any suggestions? Typically, I would be against such chemical measures but I don’t see any way around it. Now that I have settled in a bit, to my pleasant surprise, I have found my complex of apartments and town houses to occupy more than just white folk. My initial impression of the neighborhood was that is was exclusively white, but after further observation I have found it to be predominantly white but with some blacks living in the immediate area too.

My bicycle reassembled, I put it to good use riding it in ninety+ degree heat around False River, the local oxbow lake (once was a part of the Mississippi). While only glancing at the my maps, I was not completely familiar with the total distance around the lake. To my amazement, it was about twenty-five miles around, the weather making it seem that much longer. Leaving out the detail, my sweatglands have had a better workout in the last 48 hours than in the last four years, combined. I was getting a little worried about dehydration and sunburn but fortunatly I was able to refuel with some cold juice, water, and 30 spf sunscreen at a gas station along the way. The lake is mostly bordered with seasonal homes and other fancy vacation type places. I did not realize the extent of the rich white vacationer population until now. Most living on the lake have speedboats, jet skis, and pontoon boats with large platforms to have floating parties on; which seems like a popular thing to do. The far end of the lake looks to be protected and serves as habitat for the local creatures. So far I have seen: soft-shell turtles and other water turtles, White Egrets, armadillo, but no alligator yet. Coming back around the lake, the area was mostly sugar cane, white looks like a giant grass and right now is about six to eight feet in height. Also, on the near side of the lake, coming back around, are about a dozen impressive historical antebellum style homes. These houses were built in the1700’s and early 1800’s and served as Plantation owners residences. Many of them remain within the original families. The Houses are all painted white with large columned wraparound porches and elegant French style architecture. The yards are typically landscaped with enormous Live Oak and Pecan trees, both of which have broad reaching branches hung with long strands of Spanish Moss.

Later in the day I continued riding my bike around and got some strange looks while on my cruise. If people have cars here they drive them. So, biking is usually reserved for kids in neighborhoods and the very poor. Maybe that can change. Although it was Sunday, I decided to check out the school to see if anyone was setting up. To my surprise three teachers were in their classrooms and all came out together a little startled that an unfamiliar face way checking out the school at such a time. I introduced myself and we were soon walking around looking at the different classrooms and talking teacher talk. They knew where my classroom was and showed me in. As the school was once at high school, I am in what was the science lab, which is perfect. Some of the original tools, like the gas burner hook-ups, are no longer functioning but I do have a large sink, a hood for experiments, and a large worktable. The room has a projector too, and maybe a smartboard (anyone know about these?). Pictures and more details are soon to come. Stay posted.