I went to the batture today. It was no great shakes. It was a collection of flotsam and jetsam, more jetsam than flotsam, tangled in weeds.
The batture has been calling me for the past couple of days. The weather was mild and sunshine-y so I decided to visit the batture. I have been overdue for a visit.
A few people were encamped on the drier ground. The law stays away from the batture. It is a world of its own. I don't particularly like it, but, it does change on a regular basis. It is neither land nor water. It is the batture, both one thing and another, and a world unto itself.
I will probably visit again next week.
The part of the batture I went to is called The End of the World. It is in Holy Cross, right over the Industrial Canal. It is an 11-minute Vespa ride from my house, barring complications.
Going to the Lower 9 always includes potential complications.
If the train gets stuck on the Press Street tracks, then you could be sitting on St. Claude Avenue, twiddling your thumbs for a half hour. After that, you had better hope the drawbridge over the Industrial Canal is down.
I enjoy a drawbridge as much as the next person. I find them enchanting. I like to watch them go up and I like to watch them go down. I do not like to watch them go up after I have just wasted a half hour waiting for the train to get moving up Press Street to wherever it is going.
The thing is, there is an intersection of tracks, lakeside of St. Claude Avenue. It is a major rail yard behind Harold’s Plant Gallery. The train workers, whatever they are called, roustabouts?
The roustabouts switch cars around and whatnot so that all the various cargo will reach its destination. This is good for America, sure, but not if you want to get across Press Street in a hurry.
Even a Vespa cannot slip between train cars. The couplings get in the way.
So, after sitting for twenty minutes that seem like an hour at Press Street waiting for the train to get out of the way, you can imagine that it is not a treat to get stuck at the drawbridge over the Industrial Canal. Especially if all you want to do is go to the End of the World, which is right there. I can see it from here.
The problem with the drawbridge is that it opens up for some barge being pushed by a tug that has to wait for the lock to fill up, or lower. It takes forever. I am not against global commerce but I cannot understand why it takes twenty minutes to get a barge laden with guano bound for Curaçao to traverse the expanse of St. Claude Avenue. It is only about thirty feet.
The bridge has mesh decking. It is treacherous on two wheels. That is the best part.
And, then, you will never guess what happened next….