Tria flumina gelida
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A two or three day interval in early February occurred in which Pittsburgh was still fiendishly cold, but no new bands of snow had appeared. The temperatures were far too brutal for a scuttle, but the roads were somewhat navigable, so I dug the car out of my snowed in driveway and headed over to the West End Elliot Overlook Park.
As you might discern, the three rivers of Pittsburgh were completely frozen over. Well, not completely…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Maritime traffic creates channels in the ice, of course, but the Monongahela River flows south to north so its waters are quite a bit warmer than the Allegheny’s, which flow southwards. I’m told that the Allegheny regularly displays river ice and even ice flows during the winter, but that it’s much rarer for the ‘Mon’ to freeze over.
That’s the West End Bridge, over the Ohio River, in the shot above.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was about 15 degrees Fahrenheit, atmosphere wise, and your humble narrator had – despite using the car – dressed in multiple layers of insulating garments to combat entropy.
I was wearing my ‘Pennsylvania coat,’ a Carhartt branded winter coat that’s all puffy. It’s not feather down within the puffs, but the look is quite similar. I hate wearing the thing, as it seriously reminds me of uncomfortable winter gear I was forced to wear as a young child.
It’s also quite clumsy. Getting my camera strap over the coat’s hood is a pain in the butt, and the puffiness of the thing drives me nuts – especially when getting in and out of the car.
What can you do? The street cassock, as I call my filthy black raincoat, ceases to function properly when the air is under twenty or so degrees. Even with multiple layers underneath, it just ain’t warm enough.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking up the Allegheny River towards the Three Sisters Bridges.
A few posts away from this one, not really sure where it is in ‘the stack,’ you’ll see me walking over one of those bridges, and showing you some closer up views of all this frozen nightmare.
As has been the case for the last few months, I’m a bit out of sync with when these posts publish from a chronological point of view. It’s currently the morning of Monday the ninth of February as I’m writing this.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There was no point in using filters or anything to ‘slow’ the shot down, as the weather had already done that for me. I waved the camera around for a bit, then headed back to the car lot. Driving on Pittsburgh’s steep streets during a season of ice and snow is an adventure in itself, I’d mention.
There were a few other familiar locations which I tried to gain access to, but unfortunately I kept on encountering zero amounts of snow clearance, even at municipal parks and at privately held properties. It had been about ten days since the ‘big snow’ and despite that…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One last shot of the ‘Golden Triangle’ before I departed.
The rest of my day could best be described as ‘thwarted.’ Couldn’t get near a few things I wanted, as mentioned above, whereas others offered no safe walking path (still have to worry about the ankle), or the conditions of the road leading to my destination were a non starter.
Back tomorrow with something different.
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Shivering mit the Lebos
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Much of the month of February during 2026 (and the second half of January, actually) here in Pittsburgh has been defined by heavy snowfall and deeply cold atmospherics. The snow, and concurrent icy conditions, have been the real issue hereabouts as there was just too much of the stuff which was allowed to freeze in this sub zero atmosphere. The roads are ‘effed, and don’t ask about the sidewalks, yo.
Brrr. Life goes on.
Recent endeavor found Our Lady of the Pentacle and myself in the tony confines of Mount Lebanon, a wealthier than you’d imagine suburb which neighbors the more modestly financed community of Dormont. We dug our car out of the snow, and drove over there one recent afternoon for diversion.
A disturbingly heterogeneous series of shops, and a pretty sweet Lebanese restaurant, were visited. We really needed to get out of the house for a few hours after the winter hermitage grew stale, and our absence from the domicile also granted Moe the Dog some rare privacy, and a chance for reflections on his iniquity.
He’s getting his receipts together for tax season, Moe is.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Even Mount Lebanon has alleys. But, they’re fancy.
Back in NYC, the dumpster divers I knew would refer to this sort of area as offering ‘good garbage,’ since it flows into the bins from wealthy people. The stuff you’ll notice left out on the curb in Dormont is usually unwanted or totally non functional junk. In Mount Lebanon, you might find a BMW jammed in the trash, or a cache of diamonds which they might find defective. The Lebo overlords have standards.
Just kidding, there. They’d sell the cast away car and jewels to some sucker at a profit, how do you think rich people get rich in the first place?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is my favorite alley in Mount Lebanon, which I think leads back to a parking lot. So narrow and dark… it calls to me.
As I’ve learned, snow removal rules differ wildly here in the Pittsburgh metro from the familiar ones back in NYC. First off, there aren’t armies of DSNY inspectors just waiting for the snow to end to start handing out tickets. Secondly, there doesn’t seem to be anyone in charge of or compelled to clear crosswalks at street corners. Sidewalks, yes. Crosswalks, no. That’s odd, and it ain’t just here in the burbs. Crosswalks in front of downtown hospitals and schools aren’t cleared. Just an ice wall lining the curb.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This stretch of retail sits along a path called ‘Washington Road,’ but this is a section of the larger ‘Route 19 Truck’ Stroad which has been mentioned here previously, although in those posts the sections described as being Route 19 are dubbed ‘West Liberty Avenue.’ Same Stroad, different name, and Route 19 continues to the south, and towards West Virginia.
The ‘Dormonsters’ call the people who live here, in this neighboring town called Mount Lebanon, ‘The Lebos.’ Said ‘Lebos’ have quite a nice series of shops and restaurants going, as well as a municipal parking lot and a T light rail station. The local cops and fire department are just a few blocks away, housed in a giant municipal building. It’s all a little confusing, really.
There’s a pretty decent Brooklyn style pizzeria is here, as a note, the owner of which comes from Brooklyn’s Gravesend section. Paisan! That’s practically my old neighborhood, or at least close to it, on the Jamaica Bay coastline of the world’s one true place. His restaurant is called ‘La Vera.’ Pretty good slice.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Our Lady was visiting various shops, touching and smelling things. That’s how I describe ‘lady shopping.’ One doesn’t get in the way when she’s involved in these pursuits, or at least I try not to. I go outside and take pictures of alleys while she’s involved with all this, which Our Lady – in turn – doesn’t get in the way of.
I shop like a teenaged boy, angrily stomping over to the rack which holds whatever it is I’m there for, and then one makes a beeline straight for the register. I only consider it a success if I completed the task and I’m back out of the store in under ten minutes. I refuse to enter stores like IKEA which force you to walk through a maze, wandering through the whole damned place just to get to the till. Target also sucks, in a manner similar to IKEA.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Lebo habitat pictured above, as seen from the top floor of their parking lot. The burying ground in the background is connected to a nearby Catholic Church, and I’ve visited each exactly once.
Cemeteries haven’t received much attention from me here, since we moved out to Pittsburgh just about three years ago. Part of that revolves around the orthopedic incident, as I’ve spent the last year just regaining the ability to walk upon paved ground. Unpaved ground is what I’ll be working on this year.
My fascination with First Calvary Cemetery back in LIC was ultimately sparked off by its proximity to Newtown Creek. The grandiose monuments and spectacular urban backdrops of First Calvary are fairly unique, visually.
I’ve paid one quick visit to Allegheny Cemetery, and also to that cemetery on Troy Hill, but I do intend on revisiting both in the Spring.
Back tomorrow with something different.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Stroad Tales
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These shots were gathered during a recent walk in frigid clime – which started in Pittsburgh’s Mount Lebanon, and ended back at HQ in neighboring Dormont.
Continuing, one was walking through a quite hostile to pedestrians corridor called ‘Route 19 Truck’ by officialdom. In this section, 19 is called ‘Washington Road,’ but at some magical spot along the way it transmogrifies into ‘West Liberty Avenue’ when entering Dormont, and then proceeds towards the Liberty Tunnel some 5 or so miles hence.
It’s not a well designed pedestrian experience, have to say, and it would be freaking terrifying to ride a bike through here as well. Route 19, a primary and sometimes secondary arterial road, is what’s known in transit planning circles as a ‘stroad.’
Curbs are uneven across its length, sometimes you step off an 18 inch curb, and a block later there’s a 1 inch curb. Curb cuts at intersections are uneven, as well, and there are seldom ‘rumble strips’ inserted into the curb cuts to accomodate users of mobility devices.
Mostly 30 second red lights with ‘walk, don’t walk’ cycles that start blinking red before you’re even a third of the way into the crosswalk.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Route 19 accretes traffic to itself as it moves towards the Liberty Tunnel, scraping vehicles out of the local grids of Dormont, Brookline, and Beechview principally. It also narrows to one lane in spots, due to on street parking in Dormont and elsewhere.
Drivers seem to grow fevered and enraged in this area as they encounter a series of red lights, slowing their progress towards the central section of the city. Road rage and narrow streets… magic combination right there.
This used to be a trolley route, by the way. Notice those iron utility poles with the three electrical connectors up top?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One prides himself as being ‘able to read a city like a book.’ If something is old and it’s still there, there’s probably a reason. In my case, there is no reason, but I’m old and there…
Everything I’ve definitely not read – as far as history goes – suggests that Pittsburgh began the process of abandoning its trolley system as early as the 1960’s. If an iron pole is still present on the sidewalk sixty to seventy and change years after its built purpose has faded away, there’s a reason.
Definitely not doing any historic research at all, me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Here’s an example of why I’m on history strike. People are idiots. Being smart has become a liability now. Act dumb, and fit in. Don’t stand out, squeaky wheel gets replaced.
The future just sucks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I was tracking where the addresses on shops changed over from being on Washington Road over to West Liberty Avenue, and now have an idea where that municipal ‘line’ between Dormont and Mount Lebanon is.
I know where the cultural line is, as they have it delineated with a platinum and copper band set into the road where Mount Lebanon starts, and there’s also the golden fire hydrants… there’s also a nightly drone light show…
In Dormont, we use a line of crushed charcoal for our borders. Used up stuff, from the base of a Weber they keep at City Hall for cook outs.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another walk through the cold wastes… this post is actually being written in your past, as it’s the very end of January right now and it’s negative four degrees outside while I’m writing this. It’s very, very cold. Bah!
Back tomorrow with something different.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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TCB, in Mount Lebanon
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Ice, snow, extreme cold… no bueno.
An overnight plunge in temperatures, combined with freezing rain, convinced me of the fact that this would an excellent day to not be driving a car. Saying that, I had a bit of ‘business’ to take care of and since the nearest corporate outposts of the particular outfits I needed to transact with were just up ‘Route 19 Truck,’ aka ‘West Liberty Avenue,’ or in the case of where I was heading ‘Washington Road,’ I decided to use the T light rail to get there.
Normally, I’d just drive, about ten minutes at worst from Dormont. The T took me about a half hour or so, figuring in the walk from HQ to the station and waiting for the train.
My business was all personal – an ATM visit, pick up some stuff from here and there, that sort of errand set. I actually found a pretty decent pizzeria in this zone.
Brought the camera along as I was going to walk back to HQ in Dormont along West Liberty Avenue, one of the roadways I’m looking at in a granular fashion at the moment.
Several posts were offered recently, about the terminus side of Route 19 where it meets the Liberty Tunnels. Check those out here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is the start of ‘Mount Lebanon,’ a wealthy suburb of Pittsburgh. We dwell in nearby Dormont, which is a bit more affordable – if you hear what I’m saying. They have a kickass library, I’d mention.
One roamed around in the cold, wearing his bubbly winter coat, snapping pix while shivering and scuttling along.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My errands complete, a walk back to HQ started. There’s a cemetery across the street here which I’ve only taken a single quick look at, shortly after moving out to Pittsburgh from NYC. That cemetery is also ‘on the list’ for another lookie loo.
There’s also a couple of tall apartment buildings hereabouts which would provide commanding views for an itinerant photographer, if only he could find a method to talk his way up to their roof.
There’s three huge churches also found in this section, which is fairly close to that invisible legal border defining Dormont and Mount Lebanon.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In this section, Route 19 is built onto a ridge line, with the residential neighborhoods surrounding it seemingly oozing down the hills.
Needless to day, you need to regard snow and ice conditions quite seriously here in Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The prominence of the Hill which Route 19/Washington Road rides on peaks nearby the local Roman Catholic’s outpost. Just a few blocks away, you’ll notice iron being used for utility poles, which are actually cross purposed trolley infrastructure. Here, the utility poles are wooden.
Hilarity usually emerges in conversation about Mount Lebanon, when it occurs in Dormont. ‘They’ve got gold and platinum fire hydrants, the Lebos do,’ and ‘they can afford it’ is usually the answer to any scandal of the day which might be going on over there. Suffice to say that the ‘average median income’ of Mount Lebanon includes several extra commas, as compared to that of Dormont.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Roman Catholic outfit mentioned above, St. Bernard’s. I randomly visited the church once, shortly after moving to Pittsburgh. Check that out here.
Back tomorrow with more wanderings.
“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.
Polar Xpress?
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described yesterday, after a recent social engagement your humble narrator decided it would be a good idea to take a walk during a ‘Snow Squall’ here in Pittsburgh, just to see what that’s like.
Verdict: It sucked.
Cold, windy, wet. My grandmother always said ‘you’re put on this earth to suffer,’ but she had a Slavic mentality. I had arrived nearby the Sly Fox Brewery which is often mentioned here, and took up position to wait for a train to pass through. I allocated no more than a half hour of ‘hanging around’ time before I’d move on and start heading back to HQ.
Lucky…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
First CSX traffic moving through the pass was a work truck, riding on one of those cool rigs which allow them to follow the rails. Always a good sign when you see these guys driving by, as the odds increase dramatically that something big will be approaching soon.
My ‘minimum kit’ bag does not include the ‘railfan’ scanner radio which allows me to spy on the RR company’s radio traffic. Everything in the minimum setup is about weight, and reducing ‘the carry’ as much as is possible out of the bag. My normal camera bag, a 32 litre knap sack, weighs about thirty pounds when fully loaded. This ‘minimum kit’ bag weighs about five pounds, with most of that due to a 24-105 zoom lens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
CSX #5462 made all my suffering go away when it appeared. It was still snowing, but it wasn’t the ‘white out’ photo condition I was hoping for.
Nevertheless, here’s a Sunday afternoon ‘Snow Squall freight train photo’ for you, lords and ladies. Choo-Choo.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I wasn’t planning on hanging around the brewery, or to even order myself a drink on this occasion. Wasn’t that kind of day. Heck, I’d just had brunch with friends about 90 minutes previously.
As soon as # 5462 passed through, I headed up and onto a causeway that eventually meets back up with and t level with Carson Street, where where this scuttle had began a couple of miles behind.
One of the more ‘freeing’ things about being able to properly walk again also revolves around not spending an absolute fortune on cabs. I’d head over to the light rail station and catch a mass transit ride back to HQ.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One last shot from up top, and then the camera and bag straps received a quick policing. The ‘warm’ coat I was wearing, as opposed to the normal filthy black raincoat, is kind of ‘bubbly.’ It’s a lot like wearing a bed’s comforter, with a good inch to an inch and a half of insulation. It does make me feel like the cartoon character which the Michelin tire company uses as their mascot. Clumsy, but warm.
A quick few blocks of walking occurred next, and then I was at the Station Square stop on the T light rail waiting for my ride.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long and soon I was walking through the front door of HQ, where Moe the Dog was surprisingly happy to see me. My dog can be kind of a jerk, but it’s swell when he’s in a good mood.
Back tomorrow with something different – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“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 