The Newtown Pentacle

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.

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