Archive for October 30th, 2026
Moon, shoe, dire portents
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s the most wonderful time of the year… and actually… this year the weather has been absolutely perfect here in Pittsburgh – and for better than two weeks in a row. This has aroused all sorts of suspicion from the locals, as Pittsburgh has a famously humid and dynamic atmosphere. The aphoristic quotation hereis ‘if you don’t like the weather, wait around 15 minutes, it’ll change.’
As described in yesterday’s post, that one and this post were intentionally ‘left blank’ in my ‘scheduled post’ list here at Newtown Pentacle.
All spring and summer, I’ve managed to maintain as much of a month of lead time on these posts. I prefer things this way, as it alleviates a lot of stress for a humble narrator, but there was Halloween to consider.
Currently, I’ve got the posts sorted out through the middle of November, and have literally thousands of undeveloped shots on the hard drive back at HQ.
Pictured is the recent Hunters Moon, as seen from HQ in Pittsburgh’s Dormont.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve been casting my eye about in the manner of the Lord of the Rings villain Sauron, looking for a ‘Halloween’ story.
There are a few local tales I’ve encountered, but they’re more tragic than they are horrifying, and nothing I’d like to repeat. Also, they’re not my story to tell. As a note: I’m pretty sure that one of my neighbors is being haunted, possibly demon oppressed, but that’s an opinion. Like an anal fistula, opinions are just something that everyone has.
I actually caused myself a bit of a panic attack, leaving these two posts open for last minute interpretations. Literally developed these shots just last night, went to sleep, and now I’m writing this post on the morning of the 30th at about seven a.m. Whew!
This post is nearly a live stream by my standard, thereby.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These shots are from a very recent walk, and represent a break in continuity which I mention because I’m sure somebody will notice it.
I try to present things in the order which I saw them, and whereas the shot above and the ones below are literally from Monday and Tuesday of this week, next week’s posts will be reeling back to what I was seeing and doing in mid September and early October. Lead time.
Yes, the Queens Cobbler might have followed me out here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Abandoned wheelchairs always catch my eye.
Where did the person go? How? This one was at a bus stop. Did the person in the chair just stand up and then ride the bus? Won’t somebody steal the valuable thing left behind at the bus stop?
This very well might be a Vampire situation, lords and ladies. You can easily get away with not being to walk, if you can turn into a bat.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Based on some activity which I observed shortly after cracking out a couple of shots of the interesting lighting under some of the many highway ramps found nearby Pittsburgh’s stadiums, ‘The Pitt’ television show is going to be presenting an involved outdoor scene involving a homeless colony that’s meant to be located in this general area. They’re currently filming the next season right now.
As a note, this isn’t where the encampments are (or observationally were, since the City of Pittsburgh made these people and encampments ‘disappear’ in the lead up to the recent NFL draft event), and the rough accommodations which the mendicants suffer within don’t look quite as ‘Mogadishu’ as the set dressers think that they might. The encampments actually look a great deal more like the way rednecks set up a hunting camp, these encampments, with elaborate tent and bivouac situations. A particularly developed one I observed on the south shore of the Monongahela River actually had a couch and other house furniture in it.
I’ve got shots of that dressed ‘Pitt’ set, but don’t want to run them yet. Spoilers…
What brought me here, to Pittsburgh’s North Side, was essentially a ‘short walk day.’ About four to five miles, if you’re curious. Lotsa Choo-Choo.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After riding the T light rail back to Dormont, these spectral figures caught my eye. I always wonder about ghosts and the clothing they are reported as wearing.
Is that the ghost of a T-Shirt which it has on?
How did the garment die? If you’re wearing ghost shoes, were they the ones you had one when it happened or are they the kicks you wish you were wearing instead? What about glasses? I’ve got an astigmatism, does that continue – spectrally speaking – or can I look forward to centuries of wailing terror, but with the sharp and uncorrected vision that I remember from boyhood?
Have a Happy Halloween, lords and ladies, and it would be a good idea to stock up on canned goods and dry grains right about now. The proverbial global sheiste is about to hit the fan, I think. Last time I said something like this was about two weeks before COVID, so…
How’s that for a holiday scare?
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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.
