Flumen frigus Friday
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the things that drew me out of HQ and to Downtown Pittsburgh on this wintry day involved gathering a few shots of the frozen over rivers from those pedestrian paths offered by this city’s many bridges. After wandering about in the Viking apocalypse for a bit, I set about doing just that thing.
I had a few blocks to cross, though, and the going was difficult due to the amount of ice and snow clinging to the pavement. It’s been so cold here that any water which might hit the concretized ground instantly freezes into a plate of mirror ice.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is a big part of why I haven’t been driving around, unless absolutely necessary, for the last few weeks.
Hell… we just paid off the loan on the car. Last thing I want to risk is the single largest investment in ‘tech’ that I’ve ever made. I’ve had lots of expensive computers and cameras and gadgets over the years, but buying a new car in 2022… luckily, I made the purchase before interest rates exploded and I was locked in at 2.9%.
Above, and boy oh boy do I love a good ramp, that’s an entrance ramp from Route 28 onto the Fort Duquesne Bridge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The path was followed to the Andy Warhol 7th street bridge. This is part of a trio of identical bridges referred to as ‘The Three Sisters.’ It was freaking cold, yo. The radiant cold of that frozen river’s ice, coupled with a steady wind… brrr.
Was almost as bad as that time at Dutch Kills when I caught some frostbite, but this time around I didn’t need to hang around waiting for the rising sun to shine on a certain spot.
I’ve just received word that my ‘tree of hope’ at Dutch Kills has been annihilated. Newtown Creek is death hungry, life cannot prevail against her.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Again, slightly underexposed to reveal the spectacular nature of the sky.
Saying that, it was mid afternoon and the light really wasn’t ‘on my side.’ This is the Allegheny River, looking more or less south. That bridge in the shot is one of the three sisters, the 6th street Roberto Clemente Bridge. It’s the one that had the Ferris wheel set up on it during the early autumn.
At any rate, I was here for the icy waters.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s been all over the TV news: ‘Don’t walk on the river ice, we won’t be able to save you,’ or so says Pittsburgh’s emergency response coordinator, as well as any paramedic or fireman you might ask. There were footprints – nevertheless – in the ice and snow on the river. Adult and child.
Somebody actually drove off the side of a highway and into a river recently, which resulted in their death. On the subject of the dangerous kind of road ragey driving behavior you’ll encounter here in Pittsburgh – this deadly 18 vehicle crash happened recently as well.
Tail gating is epidemic and endemic on Pittsburgh’s high speed roads. They don’t slow down for ice and snow, the Yinzers. I saw a debate on Reddit recently wherein a group of ‘lifelongs’ were arguing that you should – in fact – drive faster than normal in the snow as it’s safer that way.
And y’all wonder why I’ve been leaving the car back home in the driveway…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One continued on his lonely way. The toes were beginning to numb, whereas the fingers had long ago been rendered bloodless. I prefer not wearing gloves if I don’t really have to. My trusty go to sweatshirts have long cuffs on them with thumb holes cut out, so I can usually cover the top and palm of the hand that way. The gloves get in the way of operating the discrete controls of the camera.
Back next week with more.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Tē pudeat, tē pudeat, tē pudeat!
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
See that pathway through the snow? That’s a fantastic and completed job of snow removal by a commercial business building, by the standards of Pittsburgh, in the tourist areas surrounding the stadiums.
Shame. Shame. Shame.
I think that shame gets a bad rap these days. Look in the mirror every now and then, huh?
‘Aren’t you ashamed of yourself’ doesn’t seem to be something people consider these days. As I’ve mentioned several times over the years, the specific way that my own brain operates involves sloughing off successes and victories – that’s what was supposed to happen – and hard coding failure, embarrassment, and shame into active memory.
Keeps me honest, and up at night, this.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now! That’s the ‘white whale,’ an Allegheny Valley Railroad unit moving along a Norfolk Southern trestle. Sweet serendipitous victory! Already forgotten, that.
Almost slipping on a patch of wet ice? I’ll remember that one forever.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The path I was following was a bit of a loop. I’d be roaming around in the end for a little over 90 minutes, then heading back to the T. It was about twenty degrees out, and a bit windy. One was warmly dressed, but…
There’s a lot on my mind these days. No better time to think through things than when walking. Something biochemical goes on. There’s studies which suggest that some of the neurological decline of aging can be attenuated by taking long walks. Maybe it’s the meditative solitude.
As I always say: if I stop moving, I’ll stop moving…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I underexposed this one a bit to bring the sky closer into accord with the broader range of human vision. You can just see the sun peeking through, slightly above the center point of the shot.
Couldn’t feel its warmth, at all.
Things got weird here. Long blocks surrounding Allegheny Commons Park, nearby the National Aviary and several schools, had zero attention paid to their cross walks. I had to walk around a half mile before encountering a safe place to cross the street. This was annoying.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The plows had more or less cleared the roads, but they left behind ice walls of up to three and change feet high along the curbs. Pedestrians can go jump in a lake, I guess. Thankfully, the bike lanes were clear because – let’s face it – that’s the number one priority for urban planning.
Notice any bicycles in the shot above? Didn’t see one rider the whole time I was out. Lots of people walking about, though. As long as the bike lanes are available, life can persist and the Republic continues, I guess.
Watch words and phrases to listen for inclusion of, if you think your politician is going all bike laney are ‘Strong Towns,’ ‘War on Cars,’ Safe Streets,’ and ‘traffic calming.’ Should your politician start using these words, an intervention is called for. Treat this sort of thing in the same manner you would after finding drugs in your kid’s bedroom, as early intervention during bicycle lobby conversion is critical.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Bah!
I swung by the rail trench in the park, but nothing was happening there, and it was too cold to just stand around and wait for a train. My toes were thereby pointed towards the direction of a T station a couple of miles away where I’d catch my ride home.
Wasn’t done shooting, though.
More on all that tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Ad arma se conferre
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Stir crazy, that’s how I’d describe the mental state one enjoyed after hunkering down for endless days during a fairly historic weather event here in Pittsburgh. Couldn’t stand it anymore.
One wrapped his pre-corpse in the usual fuligin, except for the coat, which was the heavy duty and super warm Carhartt ‘Pennsylvania Coat.’ The only other exception to the usual rule was my headwear, which was a fedora constructed from thick leather.
The hat is something I only roll out during icy conditions, and it provides me with some protection from falling ice which is sloughing off of trees, utility poles, and trestles. A baseball cap ain’t gonna help you at all if a chunk of ice gets dislodged from a structure and falls, cracking you one right in the gulliver. The leather hat ain’t a hard hat, but it’s kept me from getting clogged on the noggin by falling ice several times over the years.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Walking toward the T light rail station, here in Pittsburgh’s Dormont, I passed by a ‘parking chair.’ There’s a lot of colloquial customs out here. The Pittsburgh Left isn’t a legal move, but it’s expected for you to participate at narrow intersections to keep traffic moving. You signal the other driver that it’s ok to turn in front of you by flashing your ‘brights’ at them.
The parking chairs are installed by someone who dug a car out of the snow and then left for work, with the chair vouchsafing that the hard won spot will be there afterwards. Woe to you, should you decide to move somebody else’s parking chair, and leave your car in that space. Ain’t pretty, what happens next…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Up at the top of the hill, where the light rail station is found, and one was passing the time while waiting for my chariot by waving the camera about. Dormont has a snow removal operation underway, with heavy equipment. We received about 14 inches of the stuff in the first big storm, which was then followed by a severe drop in temperature, and then by what seemed like daily bands of light snow which striped new layers of precipitant onto the original problem. All of this ‘weather’ has resulted in a not insignificant amount of ‘frozen’ which needs to be cleared away.
The Yinzers might say ‘it needs clear.’ They have a weird local language tick out here, part of the local cultural ‘vernacular.’ As a non Yinzer you’d say that ‘I need to wash my car,’ whereas the Yinzer would say ‘my car needs wash.’ Fascinating usage, to me at least.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Pittsburgh bound T light rail arrived, and your humble narrator boarded the thing. As I passed through the aisles of seats while shambling onboard, people looked up with concern and disgust visible on their faces, women clutched at their handbags, a service dog began to growl.
The plan for the day was for a short scuttle, due to the cold, but I’d been sitting on my butt for better than a week at this point and I was anxious to get out and about. One was ‘traveling light,’ with the camera and only a couple of lenses. What I’ve described in the past as my ‘minimum kit,’ the basics.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was an unambitious route that I had cooked up. I’d take the T to the North Side, a path which I’d calculated as being a bit less risky regarding blocked sidewalks and such, due to the presence of large institutions in the area – stadiums, hospitals, office buildings. Turns out ‘not so much.’
Again, without the retribution for inaction offered by an army of DSNY inspectors who write tickets with abandon, people just kind of let things slide. Sliding is a lot of what I ended up doing during this afternoon walk.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I debarked the T light rail at the ‘North Side’ stop, which more or less underlies the stadium where the Pittsburg Pirates regularly disappoint their fans. Even the hotels didn’t feel compelled to fully clear their sidewalks, and one negotiated his way through a path that was suspiciously the same width as your average snow shovel. No wider than maybe 18 inches, with slush lagoons.
One of the nearby hotels had rid itself of several mattresses. The wrapped up one betrays the protocol for bed bugs, as a note.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
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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.
“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.
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
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 