Lookie loo
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As a humble narrator navigates through his daily rounds, here in Pittsburgh, moments often occur that cause a moment of reflection to manifest. The insane terrain, the disturbingly heterogeneous housing stock… everything here is so different than the world I grew up and lived in most of my life – which is just 400 miles away on the ocean coast. It seems like it’s an entirely different country here.
More accurately – it’s a different country back there, in the archipelago city-state of NYC which squats just off the coast of America. This is the actual ‘country,’ and the megalopolis which spawned me is the exception rather than the rule. These days, I live amongst the Americans. Just yesterday, I saw some bloke open carrying a holstered pistol at CVS when I was picking up a prescription, which struck me as odd. Expecting trouble? He was picking up hemorrhoid cream.
Nobody else seemed to notice, or find it odd.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I get around, here.
Spotted this house in a neighborhood somewhere in the middle of Pittsburgh. Wasn’t intending on taking a photo of this house for any particular reason, instead, I was just tuning up the camera’s ‘exposure triangle’ while in the front seat of the car – for current lighting conditions and focused in on the first thing which caught my eye. Look at that joint, though – what an interesting and quirky building that is, ain’t it? Especially so for a residential structure found in an urban neighborhood.
I’ve had to redefine what I consider as ‘urban’ since moving out here nearly two years ago. It’s a whole other kind of city, Pittsburgh.
There are areas in Pittsburgh which sport a ‘density’ that begins to touch some of the outlier neighborhoods of NYC, but the de facto suburbs in New York are FAR more populated and ‘dense’ than even the dead bang center of Pittsburgh is.
It’s a whole other banana out here, in fact it’s a plantain in comparison. Starchy, and not as sweet, but quite tolerant of high cooking temperatures.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There are a tremendous number of ‘cul de sac’ streets in Pittsburgh where the only way out is the way you came in, a quirk of the region’s unique geography and Appalachian terrain. You see these ‘No Outlet’ signs everywhere, indicating that you’ve arrived at one of those cul de sac’s and you’re either ‘hanging a U’ie’ or reversing back out. Also ubiquitous is signage which admonishes one to ‘Watch Children,’ an odd municipal command in a region of the country which is so absolutely preoccupied with Pedophilia and human trafficking. I try to pretend that the kids aren’t there, or at the least are just large and hairless squirrels.
It’s my belief that these signs are indicating that the local kids are up to something sinister, so I’m keeping an eye on the youngins. I’ve seen a lot or horror movies, and a surprising number of them are set in Pennsylvania. The kids are up to something here, according to the signs, so watch out.
Back next week with something different at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
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August 30, 2024 at 8:09 pm