Archive for March 2025
Stretching and strengthening
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This time around, I made it halfway up the hill I live at the bottom of before I had to give the ankle a rest. I did utter a series of nonsense sounds while doing so, ‘unnghhhahh’ or ‘ahh ah ooh,’ that sort of thing. The plan for this walk involved going places which aren’t terribly interesting on the surface, but are somewhat close to HQ geographical wise. Just ‘a walk,’ this time around.
The endeavor I’m involved with at the moment is encapsulated in the title of today’s post: stretching and strengthening. The stretching part involves the tendons and ligaments which were damaged during the shattering of my ankle, and the consequent dislocation of the left foot back in September. It’s amazing how profound this injury ended up being, and long lasting. See, I am special.
After all this time – six months – I’m just now getting back to a somewhat normal pattern of life, and movement. The ankle still hurts, as a note.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the top of the hill, a left was hung, and I started walking up a more gradual hill, towards the ‘main street’ section of Pittsburgh’s Borough of Dormont. I’m still trying to understand the organizational chart of the Pittsburgh metro, as in ‘which’ elected office or agency handles ‘what.’ This Commonwealth business is still novel to me.
That’s the T light rail, moving away from Pittsburgh, and entering Dormont’s Potomac Avenue station pictured above. The PRT (Pittsburgh Regional Transit) people have been all over the local news for the last few days, ringing the alarm bell that they have run out of money. It seems that they have been propped up by first Federal Covid relief and then Infrastructure Bill money, sent by ‘Uncle Sugar’ in Washington for the last several years, and that they now find themselves more than a hundred million in the hole for 2026.
They are appealing to the State legislature in Harrisburg for a funding rescue, as Washington will no longer offer them financial succor, and the PRT claims that they will need to institute draconian cuts to their services in order to remain solvent. They offered their ‘Doomsday Scenario:’ complete elimination of over 40 bus routes, one of the T lines, and a decimation of their current schedule down to hour long waiting intervals between buses and even longer ones for the T. The doomsday plans includes layoffs for bus drivers and mechanics, train operators and engineers.
Entire communities would lose their bus, and or transit, service. Guess what? The cuts are mainly in the less wealthy ‘exurb’ places where people explicitly rely on mass transit to get to work or for their kids to go to school.
Lousy, this.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A right turn was next hung, and your humble narrator began moving south east. Pittsburgh has lots and lots of alleys, which are described as ‘ways.’ Narrow, it’s where businesses keep their dumpsters and where the junkies gambol and jump and play. Land has always been scarce back home in NYC, and alleys are a lot rarer there. Hell, if this was NYC, they’d probably try to build a long thin ‘shotgun’ style building to profitably fill that space pictured above with ‘affordable housing.’
Me? I was just pushing against the ankle’s restraints, taking long striding steps in order to condition that web of rubber bands secreted under my skin back into regular ‘ready to exercise’ condition. It’s all about stretching right now, and conditioning my muscles back into active duty mode after all of the sitting over the last six months.
Not too long after this post publishes, this afternoon in fact, I’ll be at the Orthopedic office for a check up and they’re likely going to shoot radioactive waves through my leg, in order to photographically vouchsafe the repair condition of my broken skeleton.
Fun. Back tomorrow with more.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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“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.
Remains, of a day
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Given my current limitations, it’s not surprising that this week at Newtown Pentacle ends as several others have recently, with an ‘odds and ends’ post as I’ve used up most of the images needed for narrative.
Looking ‘Under the hood,’ as it were, one of the many things I’m doing while walking along with the camera is thinking about how to string the photos I’m gathering up narratively. ‘Establishing shot,’ zoomed in subject, background, etc. I’ve got a whole shot list rotating in my head the entire way, and when I see something interesting that might support a post of its own, I gather a few detailed shots of whatever’s caught my attention.
Due to aforementioned limitations, the broken ankle and recovery thereof, I keep on finding myself running a bit short – at the moment – on fresh photos. Hence these odds and ends posts which utilize shots that didn’t quite fit into or tell the stories I wanted to tell.
I like the shot above, of CSX #3473, for a variety of reasons, but it doesn’t ‘tell a story’ given that its background is so generic.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I learned this talking about Newtown Creek for all those years. If a shot of the creek was facing westwards you’d see some facet of Manhattan’s skyline and it would instantly ‘place’ the waterway’s location and thereby tell a story. I’ve shot photos of that concrete factory above, but from onboard the Birmingham Bridge with the Downtown Pittsburgh office towers visible in the background.
Admittedly, Pittsburgh has nothing as iconic or familiar as an Empire State Building on which to hang its hat, but the concrete factory doesn’t seem to float in an unidentifiable void as it does in the shot above. Saying that, I did like the shot enough to upload it to Flickr, but it didn’t necessarily tell a story.
One of the things I’ve put a lot of thought into during this interval of uselessness is how to describe what it is I actually do. It boils down, your humble narrator has decided, to storytelling. Back when I did comics, or worked on Madison Avenue, or conducted tours of New York Harbor and Newtown Creek, even what I’m still doing here, is storytelling.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s one of the anchor piers for the South 10th street bridge over the Monongahela River, sitting alongside Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Heritage Trail, at an entrance to the City’s Color Park in a late afternoon. That’s ‘where,’ ‘what,’ and ‘when’ for you, but with no ‘why’ or ‘how’ which I’d direct you to prior posts this week if you’re curious about. If I threw in the fact that my ankle hurt, there’d be some conflict and urgency mixed into the story. The best and most efficient story ever written, in terms of narrative structure, is the children’s tale ‘Mary had a little lamb.’ It’s got it all, including conflict and pathos.
Back next week 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.
‘Flat’ isn’t necessarily easier
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The final leg of my ‘leg work’ day occurred just as I reached the shoreline of the Monongahela River. One of my ‘sit down’ spots is nearby the entrance to the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, which also happens to be right along the ballasted tracks of CSX’s Pittsburgh Subdivision.
Now I was happy, as I had caught a train shot. Thanks #3473.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Spring like weather has arrived in Pittsburgh, and despite a couple of anomalously cold days randomly popping up, the birds have returned and the trees are starting to bud. I entirely missed autumn and most of the winter due to the broken ankle, so I’m really looking forward to the next couple of months – photography wise.
This shot looks across the ‘Mon’ to the ‘Uptown’ or ‘Bluff’ area where Duquesne University is found.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The last time I walked through here, which must have been in July or August, this trail had become a very well populated homeless colony. It wasn’t just regular camping tents here, some of the people who set up shop here had erected shanties and there was one woman who had set up a catering tent which shielded a sofa and chairs from rain.
The current Mayor of Pittsburgh is entering what’s meant to be a difficult reelection campaign, one wherein he’s being primaried by his own party. One imagines that step one of his campaign was ‘doing something about the homeless.’ That takes the same shape here as it does in NYC – send in the Cops and Sanitation trucks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the South 10th street Bridge pictured above, spanning the Monongahela. It’s a minor bridge, but it’s visually interesting to me for some reason. At any rate, the light was nice.
My ultimate destination was that Brewery alongside the CSX tracks that I’ve mentioned a million times, but the only train I saw on this walk was the one in the first shot of today’s post.
This time around, I rewarded myself for the walking effort with a couple of pints of stout and a personal pizza for dinner.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
South 10th street Bridge again. Would have loved to creep out onto the abutments and shoreline a bit further, but I still need to remain conservative regarding the ankle. Getting there, but not there yet.
During these walks, the ankle swells up a bit. Nowhere near as much as it would have a month ago, mind you, but on the whole – its gains about 20-30% in volume. The Docs told me this sort of thing is normal and that I can expect it to happen for about the next year. Luckily ice bags when I get home are no longer required, I just need to sit back in my La Z Boy chair and let the limb relax afterwards. It still hurts.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There was a singular tent remaining. Don’t know if it was ‘occupied’ or not. Last summer, there had to be a couple of hundred people sheltering along this trail.
At any rate, this was the end of my ‘leg work’ walk along Pittsburgh’s South 18th street. Not a bad afternoon, and I’m definitely going to head back to St. Michael’s Cemetery at the top of the hill when I’m driving the MOP (Mobile Oppression Platform), a Toyota. Interesting POV.
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 road is closed, pal
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Some days it seems as if every single mile of road you travel in Pittsburgh finds another construction project underway. Some of this work is being done by utility companies who are replacing old cast iron and lead pipes with modern pvc ones. There’s also large sewer upgrade projects underway, pictured below, which open up multi block long trenches and fill the street’s travel lanes with heavy equipment and trucks for weeks or months.
It’s all very inconvenient.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
If I was still back in Queens, I’d be able to tell you which politician gave the job to which contractor and what series of unions were benefiting from the projects. Alas, I’m no longer ‘wired in.’
This lack of connection has been quite intentional, by the way. I’m staying the hell out of it here as long as I can. Inevitably, somebody is going to do something stupid that affects me and I’ll have to get involved again, but I’ve really enjoyed spending the last couple of years completely disconnected and not having to be ‘politique’ with people I can’t stand.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Twice. That’s how many times in the last 26 months I’ve been compelled to attend a governmental meeting. One was about the T service’s various construction projects (directly affects me), and the other was attending a meeting of Dormont’s Borough Council so that I could get a look at the otherwise faceless people spending my taxes. How’s about you?
Your humble narrator is reactivating and reimagining himself these days. Figuring out my next set of moves… who I’m going to pretend to be for the next few years… all that.
Tremble, as something wicked this way comes.
“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.
Thigh blasting funny scuttles
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described yesterday, a walk down a fairly steep road here in Pittsburgh’s ‘South Side Slopes’ area was undertaken. The effort was concocted in pursuit of reaching and exercising certain muscle groups in the legs, which weakened during the multi month recovery period after one suffered a broken left ankle, in September of last year. Horror plagues me, given the speed at which I now walk and my lessened capability to turn the planet beneath my feet. Fatigue, which I believe the French probably pronounce as ‘Fat Ih Gway,’ sets in quickly these days.
Always, I ponder: What if?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s a question I ask myself all the time. If a proverbial ‘poop hits the fan’ moment pops up and I find myself in the middle of something awful (Zombies, Hurricane Sandy returns, 911 returns, storms, blizzards, blackouts, fires etc.), could I just walk away from it to get safe?
The answer I used to offer in NYC was that at my normal walking pace, I could painfully handle about 25 miles or so a day with my twenty pound camera bag (for reference) on my back if I had to, but there would be a price to pay for that sort of all day long ‘leaning into it.’ Blisters, sprains, garment failure, fatigue building all day… I’m also restricting the walking to daylight hours, so twelve hours at two to two and half miles an hour… that used to be comfortably doable for me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just remember, though, I’m in my late 50’s and have never been a physical ‘specimen’ so I move at my own pace, particularly so these days.
In comparison to this shadow of his former self – an 18 year old soldier, according to Google’s Ai – moves like the Flash compared to me: ‘In the US Army, a standard ruck march requirement for earning badges like the Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB) and Expert Field Medical Badge (EFMB) is a 12-mile foot march carrying a 35-pound load, completed in no more than three hours.’
I hope that whatever emergency it is that I’d have to walk from doesn’t involve being chased by the Army. Y’ never know…
What if I become contaminated and mutate into an emerald rage monster? Can’t expect the military to overlook that sort of thing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the point where South 18th street flattens out, I found myself having to walk a few blocks east to South 21st street in order to get around some construction work blocking the way. I could have stuck with South 18th, but the construction work introduced a series of obstacles which aren’t – what I’ve come to describe as – ‘ankle friendly.’
This walk was all about the exercise, I’d remind. The downhill section involved hitting certain otherwise difficult to reach muscle groupings at the top and front of the thigh, which a controlled descent down a steep grade would hit. The section starting here is largely flat land, alongside the flood plain of the Monongahela River. A different set of rubber bands and muscles would be hit on this section as I leaned into things. The big muscles in the butt, and back of thigh, specifically.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was fairly evenly divided, this scuttle. Roughly half of the mileage was downhill, with the remainder occurring in a largely two dimensional fashion. Saying all that, yeah, I was experiencing a good amount of discomfort, but was successfully avoiding dragging my foot, limping, or walking like the Batman villain Penguin. This is progress.
As you may have noticed by now, I’m desperate for sympathy and a pat on the back promising ‘you’re going to get there, pal.’ I’ve started making summer plans, some of which are a bit ambitious. If I don’t have some actual ‘fun’ soon, your humble narrator may go limping off into the woods while screaming obscenities and not return.
All work and no play make Mitch a Mitch Mitch.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One thing about Pittsburgh – lots and lots of churches. I’m intrigued, but haven’t done any of the social networking involved with getting invited in to record the blessed fineries. I’m like a vampire… and need to be invited in to do my thing. Hate doing ‘run and gun’ shots in sacred spaces.
Back tomorrow with more.
“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 