If I ride my bike
to the end of Maple St. I am at the levee (12-14 blocks). Then I ride
up about 20 feet to the top of the levee and it's a great view of the
push boats, tow boats, barges and cargo ships moving along the river.
I like to ride all the way to the Huey Long Bridge. The levee is paved
all the way to Kenner now. If I ride the other way I end up at the fly
(short for butterfly) which is the park where the zoo ferryboat docks.
Sometimes I take photos and do pastels from the photos. Other times
I just take my sketchbook and pastels and work directly from whatever
I see. Today the river was at flood stage, which it often is in late
March, because the snow is melting up north. The river is much colder,
even on a warm day like today. The pastel with the trees in the water
was done a few years ago but the scene was almost exactly the same today
except there was a whole lot of driftwood at the edge of the water.
Alice Henderson, March
2003