Pushing out to the point
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A brief interval in the unending torment caused by the cold and snow which encapsulated life here in Pittsburgh – or at least my own – from the last week of January through most of the month of February, arrived.
Bands of snow, some heavy, had been omnipresent for weeks. Temperatures plunged outside, but lasagnas and meats were roasted within HQ. When an afternoon in the high fifty degree range was predicted, one sprang forth once more unto ruin and the world’s end.
One scuttled up the hill from HQ to the T light Rail Station. Soon, your humble narrator found his pre corpse standing on a platform at the T’s Potomac Station, heading for downtown Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This station (Gateway) is where I debarked the T, and it’s within that downtown part of the T service which operates as a subway, utilizing an old freight line’s subterranean tunnel which has been retrofitted to accommodate a modern mission and the needs of the rolling stock.
Luckily, there’s escalators down here. There’s a kind of a brutalist approach to a transit station going on here architecturally speaking, with big slabs of concrete tossing massing shapes about. It’s a pretty steep set of stairs leading down here from street level, which always triggers my weird PTSD step related thing.
I mean… it’s not that weird, I broke my ankle on a set of steps… so… it’s not like I’m irrationally afraid of flying or getting eaten by sharks… at least, not beyond any sort of normal level of concern that one should display about that sort of thing… what can I tell you?
I’m all ‘effed up.
One uses the elevator, thereby, while going down to the platforms here, instead of those triggering stairs. In the context of this post, I was heading ‘up,’ so I rode the escalator.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The plan for this scuttle was born out of frustrations during my prior outing, as described in last Friday’s missive.
Point State Park was the next destination.
Normally, I’d walk over either the Fort Pitt or Fort Duquesne Bridge’s from there, but I had zero trust that the foot paths might be clear of snow and ice due to recent experience. Instead, I’d head ‘up’ the Monongahela River and cross over to the South Side at Smithfield Street.
It’s great to wander about but you really need to have some sort of destination and plan in mind.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This one looks back at ‘Downtown’ from the path in the prior shot.
Weather conditions and this utter municipal failure to clean up snow and ice, writ large, have reduced me down to walking in a park – damn it. I’m pretty tired of being constantly thwarted by the weather, at this stage of unending winter. Bah! What the hell, Pittsburgh…
Who can I talk to? Who would I call? Fixable… is this fixable?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I could always just stay at home and walk on a treadmill or something, but I’d soon grow so bored with that… I’d pluck out my own eyes just for ‘lulz.’
Honestly, my intrinsic nature is to just sit on my butt reading comic books. Scuttling about is often motivated by an artistic ‘need’ to go shoot photos. Maybe it’s an autistic need… I don’t know… but the point is… bored, boredy, bored and taking a walk punctures boredom nicely. Beyond boredom, I also need to move and exercise in order to keep the plumbing within the pre-corpse chugging along. The meat tuxedo requires regular shake down cruises.
Saying that, this is my annual challenge – getting out and about despite an inclement climate. As mentioned in an earlier post, you’d be hard pressed to find, should you click through the years and years of archived missives here at Newtown Pentacle (links to the right of the page), any series of posts from January or February in which I was not complaining about cold weather in a similar manner, so maybe this set of frustrations is something meta-thematic?
Rise above. Fix the world.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At Point State Park, ramps allow pedestrian and bike egress to both the Fort Pitt and Fort Duquesne bridges. I was tempted by the Fort Pitt one, but given that I was in the ‘zone’ where the ramp touches down on the south side just a couple of days previously and it was completely impassable… I decided to go with a more reliable path.
I’d hang a left instead!
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Hungry Frustrarian Empire
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Once again, your humble narrator finds himself locked firmly in your past, as the very moment these words are being typed it is currently the 24th of February as far as these words go, but the photos were shot back on Friday the 13th of the same month.
You’re seeing this mid March, if I’ve got my scheduling correct. These shots represent the part of February when you wondered if it would ever stop snowing, and pondered if the Fimbulvetr was finally underway. The cool thing is that as you’re reading this, we both know how things turned out.
It’s been really, really difficult to find a walking path not blocked by ice and snow. Mentioned many times, Pittsburgh ‘shit the bed’ on snow removal. Not just the city, but the private entities hereabouts too.
Disappointing. Fixable, but I don’t want to fix things anymore.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The original plan was to ride the T light rail to the very ‘developed’ Monongahela Waterfront nearby the Station Square Stop. I’d ride the incline up to the top of Mt. Washington, I thought, but the Incline was out of service.
Ok! ‘Plan B’ took the form of me walking in the street, along a de facto highway, because some bunch of goofballs decided to pile snow on the sidewalks, forming eight foot high mounds. This pathway delivered me to a parking lot, which was expertly plowed, shoveled, and treated for ice. The parking lot leads to an entrance to one of the river trails.
It just ‘has to’ have a path, I thought, given that the trail abuts one of the Crown Jewels hereabouts – Riverhounds Soccer Stadium. I mean…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The good news is that I saw a Towboat towing something. It was navigating easterly along the Monongahela River. Yay!
I cannot express how bored I’ve recently been. As mentioned above, we’re still deep in the wintertime here in Pittsburgh, at the time of this writing at the end of February. No Bueno, indeed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This was the condition of the trail, the one I was hoping would be cleared, incidentally.
These shots were gathered on the first actual ‘melt’ day, with temperatures above freezing, that had occurred in about a two to three week interval, since a big snow maker had dumped 18 or so inches across the region. It shut down a lot of options for me.
I was stuck sloshing through this, which kind of ‘pissed off’ my bad ankle a bit. Wasn’t awful, but the organelle definitely made its displeasures known.
Fixable. This snow business is fixable. Easily so, and everybody who participated in fixing the problem would get to see themselves on the tv.
Fixable…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Oddly, given the condition of the trail, an enormous multi acre for pay parking lot was neatly cleared of snow and ice. I walked around there for a bit, and luckily spotted CSX #3155 as it tried to sneak past me while passing under the Fort Pitt Bridge. Imagine…
The trail on the other side of the parking lot was clad in deep snow similarly to the section detailed in the previous shot. Flarn!
Hands were thrown up in disgust, I fell to my knees and decried cruel fate. Imagine that… it was cold and snowy out in early February… and since I was largely unlucky in my pursuits – no incline, no sidewalk, no access – I could blame it on… Friday the 13th!
Dun dun dunnnnn.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I back tracked through the well shoveled parking lot, walked across the blocked sidewalk street, and then just boarded a T back to Dormont. Real short walk, this one, maybe three miles all told. At least the camera got up off its butt, and did something. Hmmphf.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Operation Рогачка
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As has been mentioned several times, your humble narrator has somehow managed to recreate his ‘lead time,’ that interval between the capture of these photos and the subsequent writing of the malarkey, as relates to the day that the post publishes and reaches your inbox or social media whatever.
As of this moment, while I’m actually typing out this missive, it’s early morning on the 19th of February, and the photos embedded herein were gathered on the tenth of that same month.
Just in case you were wondering why it’s still the height of winter here, and you’re likely seeing the birds returning in mid March. You’ve got a bit more winter coming your way, by the way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This sort of frigid season just frustrates me. Gets in the way.
Looking back into the archives here at Newtown Pentacle, you’d be hard pressed to not find a January or February posting that doesn’t complain about winter weather, its depravations, and its boredom.
Write a book, they tell me. Yeah sure… that’s simple.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Admittedly, Pittsburgh got whaled in 2026 by what local meteorologists describe as an extraordinary and historic winter season, as judged by their local standards.
Personally, it’s been a pain in the butt.
Week long stretches where even driving was fairly impossible. Forget walking, except in narrow corridors where you could reasonably expect – and be disappointed – to find that the snow and ice have been cleared from the pavement. Given the lingering psychological hangover of the ‘orthopedic incident,’ wherein I shattered my left ankle and then had it surgically reconstructed leading to a long and excruciatingly painful recovery period, ice and snow conditions are just ‘No Bueno.’
Messes with my head while scuttling along, this.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One was heading back to HQ in Dormont at this stage of my day, and the ‘T light rail’ station at nearby Station Square was the destination.
All told, this walk was maybe four to six miles long.
It’s become a fairly standard exercise and photowalk corridor for me, this ‘Dormont to North Side, then to South Side’ thing.
I’ll take the T to one of the stations on Pittsburgh’s North Side and then whirl and twirl over to the South Side to catch the light rail back. In warmer weather when the pavement is more reliably passable, the north/south path usually includes the West End Bridge.
Given the number of abandoned properties on the south side of the bridge, at Pittsburgh’s Carson Street, that path had been avoided as it was likely a skating rink down there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was a short wait, maybe ten minutes, before a Red Line T appeared (pictured is either a Blue or Silver Line). Soon, I was happily sitting down onboard one of the light rail units, and the trip back to Dormont only takes about 20-25 minutes from Station Square.
It was my turn to cook dinner, so I headed home and got busy.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Boneless chicken breast cutlets, with a little glug of olive oil on top and then a bit of salt and pepper. I put a cleaver flat on top of them and give the knife a couple of hard whacks to flatten out the meat and ‘stick’ the seasoning into the meat. Into the air fryer for 16 minutes at 400 degrees. On the stove, a pot of bow tie style pasta was boiled, and combined with a sauce that was formed up from a bit of feta cheese, a bag of frozen chopped spinach and also a bag of peas, and there was also a few tablespoons of Greek yogurt in there. Another glug of olive oil went into the veggies and dairy sauce concoction to loosen it up a bit, before adding in the pasta bow ties. Squeezed a lemon over the whole pasta affair and mixed it up thoroughly. Yum.
One of the lifestyle differences between ‘back home’ and ‘here’ is that you pretty much cook all your meals at home here, as opposed to eating the unhealthy and expensive junk offered at take outs. This ain’t NYC where your kitchen is tiny and it’s actually cheaper to order in. I’ve got a full size kitchen in Dormont with lots of counter space, and a nearby Aldi.
The dinner effort resulted in a big meal for two, a few scraps of chicken which somehow fell into Moe the Dog’s mouth, and then four lunch sized containers of left overs. Worth doing, and it was fairly healthy as well.
Back tomorrow with something different.
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Operation De temps à autre
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While walking across the Monongahela River, onboard the Smithfield Street Bridge here in Pittsburgh, one became enamored by the reflectivity of the ‘rotting’ ice flows along its southern bank. Add in some light rail crossing over the river on the Panhandle Bridge? Nepenthe.
One was awaiting the arrival of ‘proper rail,’ but I’ll take what I can get.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That large brick building in the background, behind the Panhandle and Liberty Bridges, is the location of that brewery which I’m always shooting CSX trains from. I’d be heading that way, but this wasn’t a ‘have a beer’ day, it was a ‘short walk’ day.
All told, probably about 4-6 miles by the time I got back to HQ.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My dreams came true, and ‘Hey Now’ was exhaled from that noisy hole on my sensory and gustation stalk, which the humans might call a ‘head,’ an entry point to the within that I normally pour coffee, or stuff hamburgers or candy into.
CSX was on the scene, navigating along their ‘Pittsburgh Subdivision’ tracks. Well, it’s not really ‘navigation’… it’s more ‘operation.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The cool thing about this ‘zone’ is that you can hear the train coming, long before it comes into view. There’s a few ‘grade crossings’ along these tracks which necessitates the crew blowing their train horn, and that begins the better part of a mile away in either direction. When the locomotive gets close, alarmed signal arms at the grade crossings are triggered, so flashing lights and ringing bells join the party.
It’s great… for me, at least.
Hey now!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After this capture, one found his way down and over to that brewery, but as mentioned, didn’t partake. I was being greedy, and wanted to catch another rail shot while I was in the area.
Hey Now!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After #3155 passed by, my toes were pointed in the direction of transit and back home. I couldn’t really feel the toes, but there you are.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
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Operation Pòbīng
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Continuing with a short walk across an icy Pittsburgh, in today’s post.
One was galavanting across the Smithfield Street Bridge, and was struck by the scene. The iced over Monongahela River was just a treat.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A Towboat and barges had cracked open a pathway in the ice flows. I had missed seeing the passage, but it was pretty clear which pathway they had undertook.
Neat.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One was digging on all these compositional geometries.
It has been quite frustrating for me, this interval of hard winter, as it always is. Entire walking paths were obliterated by snow pack, and my exploration schedule was just crushed flat by the snow. If you click into the archives, specifically posts from January and February, you’ll soon discover that every single one of the 16 years that Newtown Pentacle has been in operation I’ve specially complained about the winter months and getting penned in or restrained by the weather. Kind of a theme, really.
For a few walks in a row, I found myself forced into these corridors of ‘passability.’ The ‘orthopedic incident’ looms large, still.
Pittsburgh, at large, really ‘shit the bed’ on snow removal.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking southwards, at the northern face of Mount Washington in the South Side Slopes area. The vehicle causeway is the PJ McArdle roadway (whose sidewalks were – at the time – covered in about 18 inches of hard clear ice).
Just a day before the writing of this post, on the 18th of February, a landslide shut down the roadway for several hours. As you’d imagine, these elevated ‘zones’ were not considered for a scuttle due to weather conditions. So were the City Steps.
Bah!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Zoomed in for this one on the Colors House, which is found on Cola Street up in the ‘slopes,’ since the light was shining pretty nicely on it at the time.
One scuttled on, and on.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The buckling and heaving of the ice down on the river was intriguing to me. The closer to the southern shore of the river that I got, the more that the plates of ice below were wet and degrading (or ‘rotting’) as the warmer waters flowing beneath ate away at them. Add in the mechanical energy of that Towboat path… neat!
Back tomorrow with Choo-choo.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
The Newtown Pentacle 