Posts Tagged ‘Birmingham Bridge’
rolling rolling rolling… rawhide!
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The last legs of this particular walk were fairly uneventful, as your humble narrator picked his way along the shoreline of a Monongahela River ‘rail trail’ and towards my eventual destination at the Sly Fox Brewery.
I was scouting out a couple of locations along the way, ones with a pretty good view of the rail tracks used by CSX.
I’ll be showing you a scene quite similar to the one above in the future, but with a CSX train hurtling through it. This setup looks like it could be kind of promising.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Once I was again safely sequestered from vehicular traffic and onto the rail trail, which follows the former ‘right of way’ of a defunct railroad, my headphones were reinserted into those ear holes one might observe on the sides of the sensory and gustation stalk that sticks out of the collar of my t-shirt. Just had to watch out for bikes.
As mentioned in a prior post, these photos were gathered on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, and Pittsburgh was pretty much deserted.
Good. That’s the way I like it. The human infestation can be noisome.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a bend in the path when you reach the South 10th street bridge, which is where the trail transmogrifies into ‘Colors Park.’ Herein, street art and so called ‘graffiti’ is encouraged and allowed. By creating an out door gallery space for the pursuit, it cuts down on the vandalism and ‘tagging’ for nearby spots where graffiti is unwanted. Smart.
CSX’s tracks are on the other side of that little fence, found at more or less the center of the shot above.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s always a bit of new art on the pier of the South 10th street bridge, which is where I took a moment to consider and observe.
I moved on. This excursion was about movement, and accruing speed in my striding gait. The ankle was singing an aria by this stage. It seems that I’ve got arthritis in that joint now, and as it was a cold day…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Y’know, back in NYC… the NYPD would be very interested in this sort of scenario. In Pittsburgh… it’s likely that a groundskeeper just forgot to load up his fuel can after cutting the grass and left it behind by accident.
Regardless, one continued on. Thump, drag, thump, drag… hey, cut that out… thump right, thump left, thump…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey now! Suddenly, CSX’s #3166 hurtled past.
I had less than 15 seconds to get this shot set up after I heard the thing coming. This is why I like shooting trains at the brewery, incidentally, as there are grade crossing signal arms on either side of that space and you get nearly a minute of preparation time for lining up your shot and figuring out the exposure settings.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Look fly, walk the sky
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After negotiating a path across the broken pavement of ‘Uptown’ and down to the pedestrian ramp of the Birmingham Bridge, which spans the Monongahela River here in Pittsburgh, your humble narrator leaned into it. This scuttle, other than satisfying my curiosity about a thing or two found behind me at the start, was all about working on retraining the musculature in my roadway interface in pursuit of speeding up my striding gait, in this post busted ankle period.
Long story short: Working on getting the spring back into the steps, me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After several months of picking pathways which would exercise other musculature in my roadway interface, which had atrophied during the recovery interval surrounding my shattered left ankle, it’s now the time to start working on the next phase of ‘getting back to normal’ – specifically endurance, and especially speed.
The endurance part is just about being able to keep myself moving, constantly, and not allowing any ‘sit downs’ or ‘quick breaks.’ The speed thing is returning, but I’m not talking about running here – rather I’m shooting for ‘walking with a purpose.’ Prior to the injury, I was moving at (according to my phone) between 2.6 and 3 miles per hour on average and up to 3.5/4 mph when needed. Post injury, my walking speed had dropped down to as low as 1.2 mph.
Over the last six months, I’ve gotten that number back up to 2.3 mph, which is ‘normal’ human walking speed for someone of my height. I’m hoping that by the Spring, I can get that back up to 3 mph, even if only for short bursts. It’ll likely be another year before I can even think about 4 mph.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ll conventionally ‘have a plan’ when going out for a walk, and particularly so in Pittsburgh with its steep hills and ‘cul de sac’ neighborhoods. In the last six months or so, these plans of mine have revolved around whichever physical tortures I can subject myself to in pursuit of getting back into whatever the hell ‘normal condition’ might mean for one such as myself.
The plan on this day was short and open – ‘check out Kirkpatrick Street on foot, and then walk across the bridge.’ ‘Whatever happens on the South Side will be up to serendipity.’ ‘I’d like to have a beer at the end of it and hopefully get a train shot or two.’ That was the entirety of my plan.
I knew where I’d be ending up, at least, at that brewery by the train tracks which has become a regular stop for me when in the area.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This scuttle was perpetrated on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, so the city was pretty much depopulated. I’m probably the only person on Earth who misses the COVID lockdowns, as I enjoyed the loneliness, but there you are.
The river was crossed, and I took a moment to scan around and figure out my next set of moves.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That distant ridge line in the shot above is where the South Side Slopes neighborhood is cantilevered out from the hillside and into space.
Those city steps posts which I’ve been showing y’all for a while largely play out up there. The area directly surrounding the Birmingham Bridge’s southern landing is either simply called the South Side or it’s the South Side Works if you want to get all technical and political.
I decided that I’d stick to the shoreline and walk along one of the riverfront trails. Might get to see a train, that way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One last shot of Birmingham Bridge, and then off I scuttled. I stuck to the shadows, crawled along the edges of buildings, and generally moved along in the ‘spasmodic flying’ type of posture I’m known for.
Back tomorrow with more.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Urban Anaphylaxis can be shocking
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Continuing today with a medium length scuttle, one that started at the edge of ‘The Hill’ neighborhood and now continues into the ‘Uptown’ section of Pittsburgh in today’s post.
I’ve been really trying to not ‘deep dive’ into history these days, after spending fifteen years doing so at Newtown Creek. Saying that, I’m led to believe – by the various texts which I’m definitely not diving into – that Uptown was historically a working class and largely Jewish neighborhood. That changed in the post steel environment, and there’s a lot of abandoned and decrepit buildings found there now.
Supposedly, a redevelopment scheme is afoot. Hope so, as this ‘zone’ is fortuitously placed between the very busy and wealthy Oakland and the office buildings of Downtown Pittsburgh. Hope that there’s a plan to include the people who are living here now in this redevelopment… ha, see what I did there – expressed hope that things wouldn’t work out as awfully as they probably will… lol.
It’s got negatives, Uptown does, notably being hemmed in by a couple of nearby and quite busy highway interchanges. It’s also currently kind of ‘crimey,’ according to local residents with whom I’ve conversed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A dead end street called Allequippa sits on the border between ‘The Hill’ and ‘Uptown,’ and one became intrigued by that yellow house for some reason.
‘Keep on keeping on’ is one of my mottoes, though, so one scuttled forth.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’d be walking over the Birmingham Bridge (pictured above) to the other side of the Monongahela River soon enough, but a few blocks of adjustment to the path were required to aim my carcass at the entrance of its pedestrian lane. Just out of frame to the left, in the shot above, was a homeless encampment of some size and sophistication.
Negotiating the street crossing here is not a comfortable experience, I’d mention. A high volume intersection, with vehicle traffic pouring off of that bridge and also out of Oakland. Luckily, this walk took place on Thanksgiving Weekend, and the city of Pittsburgh was largely empty and somewhat depopulated. Made me miss Covid, actually, this walk.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An intriguing industrial building, seemingly empty, sits at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and the Birmingham Bridge. Burrell Scientific is the name on the painted sign, which also promises availability of all sorts of scientific laboratory related glass products from the company.
According to Google’s AI:
Burrell Scientific is permanently closed and was formerly located in the Uptown area of Pittsburgh at 2223 5th Ave. While the original company is gone, its legacy lives on through its products, such as the iconic Wrist Action® Shaker, which are still available through other suppliers like Reagents. There are also related companies like Burrell Corporation, which is headquartered in the city but focuses on technology solutions, not laboratory equipment.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned, lots of abandoned buildings can be observed here in Uptown. I’ve been told by people who live here that it can be a rough section to live in, particularly so at night.
All will be mended, however, by affordable housing and the loving embrace and good intentions of the real estate industrial complex. Look how great that worked out in Brooklyn and Queens, with the whole ‘affordable housing’ dealie. What could go wrong?
Bah!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Inexorably, one scuttled on. Thump, drag, thump, drag… I try to be aware of the position of the busted ankle while shlepping along. Habit sees me falling back into the sort of gait which emerged during my invalid interval. Thump right foot, drag left foot, etc.
A bit of mental discipline asserts itself here, and an attempt to force the rebelling body parts into obeisance to the command organ is made.
Thump, thump, thump, indeed.
More 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.
Hill, and dale
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This particular scuttle began on the corner of Reed and Kirkpatrick Streets, here in Pittsburgh. This intersection is found at the edge of a neighborhood called ‘The Hill.’ Kirkpatrick Street in particular has interested me when driving along its length, due to the near complete abandonment of its building lots. A rideshare was used to drop me off here, and your humble narrator soon found himself kicking dirt and scuttling downwards towards the Monongahela River.
The Hill District is somewhat analogous (yup, comparing Pittsburgh to NYC again, me) to Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, or Harlem in Manhattan, as far as its cultural significance to the local African American Community. I’m largely ignorant regarding its story.
Visitpittburgh.com offers this primer, but the story of this neighborhood is something that academic careers, and a good amount of jurisprudence, are based on upon. Politics surrounding this topic are apparently generational and quite volatile.
I’m just walking here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Kirkpatrick Street winds down the side of a geographic prominence, heading in a southerly direction towards the bluffs of the Monongahela River, and the Birmingham Bridge which spans it. Oakland, with its universities and hospitals, is just to the east. Downtown, with its office towers and governmental outposts, is to the west. Uptown, with its busted streets and abandoned tenements, lurks squamously at the base of the steep hill which Kirkpatrick twirls about on. Other side of the river? Glad you asked.
Yeah… everything is starting to come into focus.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My stride was halted upon encountering this stout iron cage, affixed to a storm sewer’s open drain. This was peculiar, as its design seemed to lean more towards keeping something inside of the sewer pipe, rather than keeping things out of it. Curious.
What? You don’t notice sewer infrastructure when out and about?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A small Baptist church was observed, tucked into an odd sized lot, and it caught my eye for some reason. Looking out into the verge from either side of the road, building foundations and the remnants of retaining walls were observed.
Your humble narrator was once again the singular pedestrian, incidentally. Plenty of vehicle traffic passed me by, but the only person walking about was encased in a filthy black raincoat.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The weather has turned cold here in Pittsburgh, and this was the first walk of the year in which I had to wear ‘long John’s.’ That’s a layer of thermal underwear, for the colloquially or sartorially challenged. Beyond the underwear, I was encased in my normal mass of swirling black sackcloth, festooned with secure pockets. I’ve lost count of how many there are at this point… pants have something like 8 velcro sealable pockets and the sweatshirt offers 19 zippered/velcro pockets as well as channels for me to run headphone wires through the thing. Local area network guy, that’s me.
A fuligin shroud which adorns and protects the delicate skinvelope of the decaying pre-corpse which ferries my brain about, that’s what my ‘couture’ is. I consider the brain to be ‘me,’ as in that’s where the perception of consciousness resides – ‘between the ears and behind the eyes’ – whereas the jangly limbs and obtuse chemical factory in the belly and chest are perceived as being somehow external to the operation (until something goes wrong). I’m all ‘effed up.
I had the camera bag strapped across my back, of course, and the camera itself was being ‘worn’ beneath the raincoat to protect it from prying eyes, and possible precipitation. I was also wearing the flash orange ball cap which has become my regular ‘cover’ these days. ‘Cover’ is soldier talk for a hat, btw.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator was deeply involved with one of his self deprecating internal monologues, literally beating himself up about something ugly which occurred several decades ago. Whether it was actually my fault or not, I’ve decided to take personal credit as having been the villain of that story. I doubt the other parties would even remember the conflict all these years later.
Regrets, I’ve got a few.
Y’know, this is why I always thought it was silly to assign readings of Dostoyevsky or Camus to students under the age of 20. Regret? What can you possibly regret at that age, as nothing has actually happened to you yet and you haven’t had the time to really screw up enough to cause lasting harm to others?
Late 50’s? Yeah…
Back next week with more – 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.
Always heading nowhere
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Aimlessly wandering down Pittsburgh’s East Carson street with Our Lady of the Pentacle, in the south side flats area of Pittsburgh, where the ghostly outline of a former structure was spotted on the wall of an 1888 vintage merchant’s building. It made me want to deep dive a bit into the history thereof, but I stopped myself.
Sometime in the future, I’ll use my magnifying glass to study the historic building stock found along this corridor, its story, and learn about all the ‘once, long ago, used to be…’ but that’s not today.
The rest of the walk was uneventful, and then we headed back to HQ, where Moe the Dog awaited.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Separately, we were wandering around Pittsburgh’s Dormont during the evening of a different day, Dormont being where Newtown Pentacle HQ is currently found, and the T light rail suddenly exploded into view.
I cannot stop myself, so… HEY NOW!
Our Lady and myself were going out for dinner at a local burger joint, one which offers a fantastic happy hour menu if you sit at their bar. I had a bourbon/apple cider cocktail that ‘rocked the bells,’ alongside a double smash burger. Yum.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This shot, depicting the Sterling Street steps, which I returned to with Our Lady in tow (she’s caught the bug for exploring the steps), was shot in a manner that attempts to visually describe the PTSD symptoms I’ve been experiencing when traversing stairs, since breaking my ankle on a set of steps at home last year. It kind of looks like this to me, that moment when the blossom of terror opens.
Enough of all that personal terror and weakness, though, it was a beautiful day and that was the focal point.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One truly odd holdover from that experience is that due to all of the opioid pain killers that the Docs were feeding me after the surgery, my memory of this exact period (approx. September to November) from last year is extremely fragmented, or nonexistent. I’m missing about 5-6 weeks of time.
Constant agony, yes. That I remember.
I promise I’ll eventually stop talking about this. Don’t worry, something else that’s horrible or profound will happen to me and then that’ll be my new ‘thing’ to worry about. Sigh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Our final set of stairs for the day were attained, and we returned to more or less flat ground at the bottom of the hill. The rest of our walk would be mundane, visiting shops and eating lunch, along the commercial corridor of East Carson Street in the South Side Flats section of Pittsburgh, which brings you back to the first photo and the end of the the last steps story.
It was nice having company for a scuttle, must say. I used to sell tickets in NYC to groups of people who wanted to walk around with me. Narrators need to narrate, occasionally.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Eventually, we found ourselves at the shoreline of the Monongahela River, nearby the Birmingham Bridge. It was time to head back to HQ again, and Moe the Dog. He’s sort of our constant, Moe.
Back tomorrow with something different.
“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 