Posts Tagged ‘Church route steps’
Diagonal scuttling
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This scuttle began at St. Michael’s Catholic Cemetery on Pittsburgh’s South Side, up on the ‘slopes.’ This was going to be a ‘short walk’ of well under five miles, and Our Lady of the Pentacle came along for the effort.
As has been mentioned multitudinous times, downhill slopes offer the sort of exercise which my still gamey but recovering left ankle requires.
I do intend on returning to this cemetery at some point and walking the grounds. Interesting monuments here, with some dating back to before the First American Civil War (I’ve decided to just start calling it that, as I can read the writing on the wall at this point). I poked around a bit, and the earliest interment which I’ve seen mention of at this facility was back in 1849, during the short 16 month term of U.S. President Zachary Taylor.
German Catholics are the predominant group interred here, it seems.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The elevation which the cemetery is set upon offers commanding views of a section of the ‘Mon Valley,’ which is how the post industrial corridor along the Monongahela River gets referred to locally, here in Western Pennsylvania and the surroundings.
That prominent building pictured above is the University of Pittsburgh’s (PITT) 42 story Cathedral of Learning, and it’s over in the very urban Oakland section.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Up here on the south side, the buildings are a bit more modest.
It was a lovely day in Pittsburgh, with temperatures in the high 50’s and a steady breeze. We began our scuttling, and it was all downhill from here.
South 18th street’s curving path carried us down towards the flood plain of the Monongahela River, and the South Side Flats area.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It looks like someone experienced a residential fire since the last time I passed through here. My heart (as it were) really goes out to people who experience this sort of horror. Clothes on your back is all you’ve got afterwards. Everything is gone, all the mementos and the existential reality of the home – appliances, clothing, furniture, family photos, electronics, expensive possessions – all gone in a flash.
I’ve been told that the biggest problem after a fire is document related. Birth and marriage certificates, wills, licenses, passports etc. Replacing them is a pain in the neck, and not all that simple.
Sucks, that.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Our Lady became intrigued by my newfound interest in the City Steps of Pittsburgh, and wanted to check them out. Our route diverged from South 18th street and then we headed towards the ‘Church Route’ steps along Pius Street.
I cannot walk past this particular view without taking a photo of it. It’s a problem for me. I need help.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just as we got to the top of the Church Route steps, a Norfolk Southern train thundered through the scene (bottom foreground) but was just out of view behind the verge. In the distance, that’s the Birmingham Bridge, which I walk over with some regularity.
Back tomorrow.
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Fastigio ad plana
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One made his way over to the South Side Slopes section of Pittsburgh, and decided to visit a set of interesting city steps, called the ‘Church Route,’ recently. Exercise day was upon me, once again, and whereas it was quite warm out – the atmosphere was nearly tolerable. It’s been quite and uncomfortably humid here.
This section of Pittsburgh currently fascinates, and perplexes, me. It’s incongruous, chaotic, and yet makes absolutely perfect sense at the same time. It reminds me of the landscapes in Crete, and Thera.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator started down the Church Route steps (I’ve been down this route before, back in June – see here and here), hopeful that a quirk of lucky timing might result in the appearance of trains on the Norfolk Southern tracks below. No good fortune resulted, but I was out for a walk and not a ‘stand around,’ so the scuttling continued downward and onto the South Side Flats below.
No real destination had been predetermined, except that I would end up being that brewery next door to the train tracks which I’ve been very lucky with getting CSX locomotive photos at. More on that in a future post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There was still had a bit of distance to cover, however, and one had resolved in advance to only inhabit spaces alien to experience.
In other words, streets I hadn’t walked down before. I’ve got a lot of that sort of thing going on at the moment. Regardless… it was exercise day, gotta keep moving. Man, it was humid…
Gotta see if I can get inside that church one of these days…
“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 