Archive for April 2025
Thornburg Conservation Area, pt. 02
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described yesterday, a quick walk around a roughly square 38 acre public property called the Thornburg Conservation Area, nearby Pittsburgh’s Borough of Crafton, was recently undertaken.
After following the sound of flowing water across the verge, one encountered a drainage system for a set of rail tracks that are set into the hillside, about fifteen to twenty feet above the level of the earthen berm that I was scuttling on.
It’s been a fairly long time since I thought ‘hey, I should set up the tripod and put a filter on the lens for a low and slow shot’ so I did so.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
What with all my troubles, an effort has been made to minimize the amount of crap I carry with me in the camera bag. Normally, I’m ready for most anything that might pass in front of me, but for obvious reasons I’ve been trying to travel a bit lighter of late. On this walk, and since I’d driven here, I had the ‘whole magilla’ with me.
The tripod was all set up and the lens cloaked with an ND filter, so I decided to get a few more shots. ‘Up, down, all around.’ The light was crappy, with an overcast sky, but that’s it’s part of the challenge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On my way back to the parking lot, I noticed this set of stairs set into the hillside leading to where those rail tracks are. Hmmm.
Have you ever read that amazingly cool Reddit thread about avoiding interacting with stairs you might find in the woods? Check it out here.
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.
Thornburg Conservation Area, pt. 01
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
You just have to take notice of signage warning passerby in a park about possible injury or death due to Goat. You really do.
Saying that, there were zero goats to worry about on the day which I visited the Thornburg Conservation Park. This is a roughly 38 square acre patch of green with stands of trees that a waterbody called Chartiers Creek flows past. This is more or less in the community of Crafton, which isn’t far at all from HQ, in neighboring Dormont, and both are Boroughs of the Pittsburgh milieu.
A nine hole golf course was established here in 1898, and the property changed hands privately in 2001, whereupon a combination of wealthy residents and the municipality of Thornburg then acquired the land in 2005, in order to establish a public green space and nature preserve for the community on the grounds of the former golf course.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Two big friendly dogs that came bursting out of the verge soon introduced me to their friend Richie, who also happened to be recovering from an orthopedic dealie and stretching his legs, so we started chatting. He told me that a big part of the reason behind establishing this space involved a massive flood that occurred ‘about twenty years ago’ and that when the Borough was working on this project, part of the project’s aim was the creation of a spongy green barrier between the settled community and businesses in the area and the flowing waters. He mentioned ‘EPA’ and I asked ‘the Feds?’ It wasn’t clear, his answer.
Me?
This was my ‘walk on natural soils’ day, providing a series of challenges for the recovering ankle that you just can’t find on pavement. All of the rather subtle angles your foot finds itself in while walking on a natural surface, that’s what I was after. Also, I wanted to take a few shots of something that wasn’t a train or a city street.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Turns out that there are, in fact, rail tracks at the edge of the property.
Conversation with a different fellow, whose dog also handled the introductions, revealed a schedule for a reportedly once a day journey of trains along these tracks, and that has been noted for future excursions.
I was following the sound of flowing water down a trail that followed the shore line of Chartiers Creek.
There were a few interesting compositions which I had to deny myself from capturing, I should mention. Doing so would have involved negotiating down an eight to fifteen foot muddy slope on the berm I was walking on down to the level of the water. Given the ankle situation, this wasn’t worth the risk, and I’m also not 100% sure I would be able to climb back up to the anti flooding berm which I was walking on without help.
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.
Left over’s Monday
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The best part of roasting a chicken for me, beyond how it makes the house smell, are the succession of chicken sandwiches you get as leftovers. Today’s post is one of those sandwiches.
As is the case with any long walk, there’s always a few photos which I like but didn’t use as it would have been difficult to shoehorn them into the particular tales I’m telling (and I’m really trying to be a bit more concise these days and keep it down to just three shots per post, unless I’ve got something I really want to show). To wit, that Mack truck above, fitted out with a pumping system.
This is a concrete pump truck, operated by a local construction outfit called ‘Trumbull,’ and that collection of pipes and hinges on its bed unreels and then extends up and out, allowing concrete to be delivered to several building stories above whatever construction project the truck is assigned to. Neat.
Man oh man, have I ever missed taking walks like this one.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The 16th street David McCullough Bridge was mentioned but not depicted in a post from last week, and that’s rectified above.
Again, I have certain limitations at the moment due to the ongoing recovery from the busted ankle. Normal circumstance would have seen me slip down to the water’s edge and set up a tripod for my filtered lens. This would be foolhardy at the moment, and I’m not entirely sure that I’d be able to climb back up the slope in my current state.
As my capabilities have been returning, it’s become a bit easier to explore and walk about, hence it’s become less of an ‘I have nothing’ situation (as far as photos go) where I’m writing a post the same day it’s meant to publish. Lead time is critical when you’re publishing five times a week. This post, for instance, was largely completed by last Thursday, and is being scheduled to publish on last Saturday morning. By the end of next month, I’m hoping to have things operating at least a couple of weeks ahead of the publishing date again.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Enigmatic, the 1905 vintage Immaculate Heart of Mary RC church looms high over a neighborhood I passed by called ‘Polish Hill.’ I still haven’t found the opportunity to get the camera inside of this place, as I vowed to do in this 2023 post. I’m going to head over there sometime soon and make nice with the people there, so hopefully I’ll get permission to record the interior scene.
I say it all the time – ‘it’s not about the gear, or the experience in operating the camera, photography is about the social networking which opens the doors to places that other people can’t get into.’
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.
411,840 inch scuttle accomplished
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Pittsburgh has lots of alleys, especially so ‘Downtown.’ They don’t put the garbage out on the sidewalks in front of the big office buildings for collection here, rather they use the alleys for that. A few blocks away from this spot is where Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies shot the formative encounter between the Wayne’s and Joe Chill. The entire trilogy was mostly Pittsburgh based for its filming.
Me? My busted ankle was singing, and luckily I had managed to walk some six and half miles on this one. It took me three and change hours, mind you, but I did it. Look at me ma, top of the world.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In the downtown section, Pittsburgh’s ‘T’ light rail service operates in a former freight rail tunnel, found under the city, and runs in the manner of a subway under the office buildings. It rolls through several modalities over its course – the T does – street running, cantilevered tracks, and there’s also elevated trestles. It’s all very exciting, really.
I boarded the Red Line service at the Wood Street station and settled into a seat for the roughly five mile ride back to HQ. It was good to sit down, after a longish walk.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
About thirty minutes later, I was standing on a corner in the Boro of Dormont, and getting ready to lean into the last and shortest leg of the walk: down the hill back to HQ where Our Lady of the Pentacle and Moe the Dog awaited my return.
It was my turn to cook dinner, which ended up being air fryer cooked chicken thighs, served over rice and with a lot of broccoli.
Back next week, 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.
Dahntahn Yinzerville
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
To start, the Pittsburgh people refer to the regional culture they enjoy as being ‘Yinzer.’ The local accent, which pronounces the word ‘downtown’ as ‘Dahntahn’ and says ‘aht’ when they want to say ‘at,’ uses a contraction for ‘you all’ that sounds like ‘y’inz.’ Use it in place of ‘y’all.’
There’s a cultural conceit and marketing gimmick built in here, therefore, centering around ‘Yinz.’ It’s common for people in the Pittsburgh Metro to describe themselves as ‘Yinzers,’ although you already figured out they’re ‘from here’ due to a Steelers jersey, worn with shorts in January. There’s a strain of masculinity here which likes to project that they don’t feel cold, as they’re far too tough for that.
That’s the explanation for the title of this post, ‘Dahntahn Yinzerville.’
After passing under the 1922 vintage ‘David McCullough 16th street bridge’ on the waterfront trail, I was definitively ‘Dahntahn.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s another patch of tall buildings about five to six miles to the east in Oakland, where CMU and Pitt’s campuses are found, but most of the businesses hereabouts enjoy horizontal setups rather than vertical ones.
Density ain’t what it used to be.
Another interesting wrinkle to Yinzer talk involves the supposition of a past tense variant for the word while using a verb in present tense. It’s not ‘the car needs to be washed,’ rather it’s ‘the car needs warsh.’
Fascinating.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Before plunging into the urban core, in pursuance of acquiring the T light rail at Wood Street Station, a few last wave arounds of the camera occurred. This one looks across the Allegheny towards its northern shoreline.
It was time to begin the last steps of this scuttle, and ‘the final paht of this scuttle needs walk.’
Back tomorrow.
“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 