Posts Tagged ‘North Shore’
Woke up, fell out of bed…
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Merry New Year, lords and ladies, with this post marking the start of a short scuttle’s chronicle, as well as being the start of 2026’s folderol.
It was a mid-December’s Monday in Pittsburgh, quite a cold and gray day for a scuttle. Your humble narrator wrapped himself thoroughly with an under suit of thermal garments, hidden from prying eyes beneath that swirling black sackcloth which forms my normal outer shell. The filthy black raincoat formed the most outré of the layers.
One was traveling light, using a sling bag to carry bare essentials, and had a zoom lens installed on the camera. Above, you’ll notice my ‘gray card’ shot, which is generally the first thing I do when leaving HQ. Pursuit of setting up base setting for the camera’s exposure triangle which I’d be working around for that day is why. This was captured directly in front of the house, and looks up the steep hill HQ is at the bottom of, and whose summit allows one pedestrian egress to a light rail station.
Horrible in aspect, one nevertheless launched himself forward. In the distance, an air raid siren sounded. The siren summons the volunteer fire department together, as a note. I prefer to think it’s a general alarm signaling to all concerned that your humble narrator is out and about.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As has become my custom, a shot of a T light rail unit moving ‘away from Pittsburgh’ was captured, rather than the one ‘to Pittsburgh.’ I just like the POV better for the ‘away’ viewpoint, what with the catenaries and such.
I had no specific plan for this scuttle, wasn’t ‘trying’ to catch something specific, just ‘walking here.’
It’d been a few days since the last effort, and I needed to push some force through the legs to stretch out all the rubber bands and pinions. The Pittsburgh bound ‘T’ arrived and then boarded, I paid my fare, and found a seat while continuing with a relisten of ‘The History of Rome’ podcast by Mike Duncan. I was listening to episodes that bridged the Gracchi Brothers to Sulla period on this day. That’s when the politicians in Rome began to employ private armies.
That’ll probably be at the end of 2026 for our Republic. Caesar is coming.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described previously, it’s about a 25-35 minute ride from Dormont on the T service to its terminal stop on Pittsburgh’s North Shore.
‘Essentials’ in the camera bag: a flash light, two prime lenses with bright apertures in addition to the zoom lens on the camera, a kitchen towel, a rocket air blower and a lens cloth, a pack of gum, and a couple of spare camera batteries.
I find having a cloth towel with me immensely handy, but I’m a Douglas Adams fan, and he would advise that it’s always good advice to carry a small towel about.
My very first freelance art job back in the 1980’s involved computer graphics (generated on a Commodore 64), which would be then be inserted into scanned photos of Douglas Adams for use in a ‘flip book’ which would animate a cup and saucer of tea landing in his hand. I got to meet and spend a little him during the photo shoot part of that job. He told me the story behind the towel thing, btw., as I had pointedly asked about it.
A young Douglas Adams was on holiday in Spain. He stripped naked at a beach to go swimming, leaving both his clothing and a towel on the sand. He returned from his swim and found that someone had stolen his clothing, and all he had to cover ‘himself’ with on the way back to his hotel was the towel. So… that’s what the man himself told a 19 or 20 year old version of your humble narrator. Nice guy, Adams, in my limited experience.
I was a fan, of course, but this encounter with him gave me some false hope that writers and artists whose work I like, whom I might meet in the future, would be similarly ‘cool guys and gals.’ Not so. Don’t meet your heroes is my advice.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The T arrived at its terminal stop, nearby Acrisure Stadium, where the Pittsburgh Steelers dwell. As is my habit, I hung around a minute or two until all the other passengers had debarked, and then adjusted my various camera and bag straps, floating about amidst all those layers of warming garments draped about my loathsome physical firmament.
I’m all ‘effed up, mind you, and I’m talking in the physical sense as opposed to my thought process. The orthopedic agonies of 2025 forced me into sitting postures for too long. Everything hurts, and the only way to make it stop hurting is to make it hurt more until it starts hurting less and then something else can start hurting more.
This particular walk was a compromise that I made with myself, given the climate available during the interval. Rain, snow, ice, all that were in the forecast. This was the only day of the week during which precipitant concerns wouldn’t apply, but it was gray, and windy, and really cold. The kind of day that makes your nose run, but doesn’t draw tears.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey, lookit, somebody lost their Narcan on the bench. Hope they’re ok.
Like some sort of putrescent jelly, your humble narrator narrowly slithered over to an escalator, and then to another to street level. Scuttling out onto the sidewalk surrounding the elevated light rail station, a series of ultramundane decisions were made. A path was decided upon!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Basically, I decided to go ‘that way.’ Like I said, ultramundane.
Back tomorrow with more – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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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.
White Whale Spotted
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Allegheny Valley RR’s ‘Carload Express’ locomotive #6002 pictured above, rolling through a rail trench found in Pittsburgh’s Allegheny Commons Park, on the city’s ‘North Shore.’ I more commonly see Norfolk Southern and CSX traffic in Pittsburgh, as AVRR is a far smaller outfit than either of the two giants. Sightings of them are so rare, for me, that I’ve come to refer to them as the ‘White Whale.’
This park is surrounded by a historic district, and it’s also one of the places which I regularly move through in Pittsburgh which seems ‘safe as houses,’ but most of the ‘Yinzers’ tell me this area is a crime ridden cesspit. ‘You’ll get shot,’ they say.
Honestly…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The train continued on its way, crossing over the Merchant Street Bridge on its course to points eastwards of here. The first shot in today’s post was what I came to this ‘zone’ to get, and my plan for the rest of the afternoon would end with eventually riding the T back to HQ in Dormont. Saying that, I had budgeted away a few hours for ‘serendipity’ and decided to walk through a section of the area which I hadn’t formerly.
Looked over my shoulder the whole way for approaching hordes of East Asian horse archers, cannibal gangs of tooth sharpeners, and of course – Diurnal Vampires – was called for.
The way seemed clear. No feral kids in the trees firing poison darts at me, either, and most of the people I passed by seemed like I could take them in a fight – as they were either young children or quite elderly.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So, pictured is a former post office which is now part of the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. A street has been pedestrianized into a plaza around it, and there were a few late 1980’s style apartment buildings surrounding the spot. A few people were walking around, moms with kids and a security guard or two.
There were no ogres, pirates, or barbarians. Just folks.
I was finishing up a relisten of an audio book offered by the HP Lovecraft Historical Society, adapting ‘The Dunwich Horror.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Practice, that’s how I got here, practice.
The rain started kicking up a bit, and thereby my pathway options began to narrow. I would be seeking ‘rain shadows’ for the rest of my scuttle.
If you spend a lot of time outside in urban spaces, rain and wind shadows can be your best friends. You see the former all the time, especially so back in NYC, where a three to four foot wide dry pavement patch around the bases of tall buildings can be observed during rain events. You also see them under elevated highway ramps and train trestles. When outside, use this unintended architectural consequence to your advantage.
Connect with whatever the environment you happen to be in is, and use its quirks to your advantage.
Back at Newtown Creek, for instance, you can pretty much pee wherever you want to, and I’d offer the advice to avoid industrial Maspeth during the summer months due to the heat island effect.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Thusly, I found myself shambling towards the ramps of the highway connections which overfly the surface streets and move towards the direction of the Allegheny and Monongahela River’s confluence. From there I’d be walking under yet another set of ramps carrying different high speed roads, on my way to a T station for my ride back to HQ.
I still haven’t taken a bus in Pittsburgh, other than a shuttle which was running when the T was under construction. One of my winter plans is to get familiar with the ‘busways’ hereabouts.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Cannot tell you what was going on here, but I did wonder if lifting that ball would summon a fireman. Most people call 911.
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.
Many, many, ramps
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This particular scuttle, here in Pittsburgh, began with a ride on the T light rail. The plan, as it were, was simple – and involved a walk of about three to five miles. Your humble narrator was fully ‘kitted out’ camera wise, and the weather was somewhat chilly and rain was threatening.
Misty, it was, misty.
The T light rail was ridden all the way to its terminal stop on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. There’s a shot I wanted, one which hadn’t coalesced the last time that my presence was noticed in this area. Pictured is what it looks like when riding the service. The area that the rail unit was moving through in this shot was one of the busways, one which also has rails and catenary wires.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The T soon deposited me on the North Shore elevated platform that functions as a terminal stop, and after a quick adjust of all the straps and whatnot involving the camera and bag, one leaned into it. I was ‘wearing’ the camera under the filthy black raincoat in case it started raining, a long standing habit which started back on the deck of vessels in New York Harbor, all those years ago.
One descended down to the street, where he belongs.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This area directly touches the football stadium where the Steelers dwell, and it’s sacred ground in Pittsburgh. Said holy spot is to the right.
A maelstrom of black fabric whipping about in the breeze, wrapping itself about a decaying human husk, wherein my brain inhabits, one began his fitful imposture of human locomotion and attempted to blend into the background.
This isn’t always possible, given how children point and cry when I’m passing by. Old Ladies clutch at their purses, men start forming violent posses, dogs howl. Cats are indifferent. Always, an outsider.
Thump, drag, thump, drag… that’s my walking rythym these days.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One cannot complain. Last year, it was questionable how much mobility I might have after the shattering of my left ankle. It has been an act of pure will (along with the attention and the expertise of a team of medical professionals) to get back to ‘doing my thing.’
What is ‘my thing’? Why is it ‘my thing’? Where do I go to do ‘my thing’? Is it just wandering aimlessly, or…? How is…
Best not to ponder such esoteric concepts and motivations, as the only ideation that really matters is to remain in constant motion, and enjoy the consequent unstoppability. Juggernaut, that’s the word you’re looking for.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One feels like a corner has been turned quite recently, and aspirational thoughts have been blossoming. Ambitions, goals, all that crap.
A Jedi craves not these things.
Thump, drag, thump, drag…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Merchant Street Bridge, which was described in a prior post.
Thump, drag, thump, drag…
The mists then began to slightly precipitate. Wasn’t ‘umbrella rain,’ instead it was just a fine layer of droplets suspended above ground level. Very atmospheric, but had to clean the lens of moisture often.
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.
Low energy adventuring
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As is my habit, after leaving HQ, a quick shot from the front yard to figure out a median exposure setting for the camera, and gauge average lighting conditions as a staring point for the day’s subsequence. This shot is looking up the fairly steep hill that I often mention. Shlep, shlep, scuttle, scuttle.
The plan for this walk was fairly wide open, and involved using the T light rail to deposit your humble narrator in an interesting area. I was hoping for serendipity, Y’see.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
HQ is located in Pittsburgh’s Borough of Dormont, and the neighbors really embrace Halloween around these parts. One of them set up a ‘Yinzer Cemetery’ in their front yard. It actually made the TV news.
The T Light Rail station is about a half mile, at most, from my front door. It’s just a bit of effort to drag my butt up the hills and get over there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another Dormont porch display of Halloween paraphernalia was encountered along the path. We get actual trick or treaters in Dormont, which is cool as heck, and the way things are supposed to be.
One leaned into it, and boarded a T light rail unit heading into the city.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This time around, the service was used all the way to its terminal stop on Pittsburgh’s north side, nearby the stadium wherein the Steelers dwell. Your humble narrator vomited forth from the light rail car and onto the platform, a swirling contradiction of black sackcloth and camera gear. The filthy black raincoat, or as I call it – the street cassock – was covering my accursed back. I started moving, which began as a shamble but then sped up into a scuttle.
I was relistening to an old favorite amongst my HP Lovecraft audiobook collection on this walk – ‘The Shadow Out of Time.’ There were a few places on this scuttle where I popped the headphones out of my ear holes, wanting to remain ‘situationally aware.’
In other words, while moving through places where it makes a lot of sense to pay close attention to your surroundings, you should.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A web of high speed roadways, on-ramps and off-ramps and such, are found in this area. There’s also the elevated trackway of the T up there in the vault. There’s a rail shot which I was ‘hep’ on trying to capture this day, but that ended up being a fruitless pursuit.
North, ever northwards.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On game days, tens of thousands of people – all adorned in black and gold – can be observed using these sidewalk paths to get to the football stadium. The cops deploy dozens of officers to handle traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian. It’s really something to see.
Of course, wherever your humble narrator goes, it’s all just loneliness, rejection, and isolation. Crowds of children throw rotten fruit and vegetables, their parents light torches and form mobs. The cats hiss.
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.
316,800 inch long scuttle, part 1
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One has finally managed to break the pernicious five mile walking threshold which has been actively blocking my activity since September of last year, due to the broken left ankle and dislocated foot incident. I know that five miles – or 316,800 inches – sounds like no big deal, and normally I’d be the first one to say so, but it’s taken me months of physical therapy and self guided exercise to get here.
So, huzzah.
The endeavor began when I walked the hill which I live at the bottom of on up to the T light Rail station, here in Pittsburgh’s Boro of Dormont. I did take a picture of the train I actually rode in on, but the shot above is of a train set heading in the other direction made for a better opening shot.
Lighting, yo, lighting.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The T was ridden to its terminal stop, which is directly across the street from the actual center of the Pittsburgh universe – Acrisure (Heinz) stadium. On this walk, I was still consciously avoiding uneven or angled paths, as such terrain still gives me a bit of trouble. Instead, I decided to try and work a few flights of stairs into the equation to spice things up.
As I’ve mentioned, a bit of PTSD seems to be floating around in the old Gulliver these days, which is centered around stairs.
Given that the ankle shattering occurred while I was walking down a set of steps it’s fairly understandable, but when confronted with a set of steps these days I freeze up a little bit and get overly cautious. This set of psychological reactions actually endanger me while negotiating a set of stairs, which causes me to move stiffly, in an almost robotic manner, and sets my nervous side on fire.
I’ll get past this because I have to. My whole life has been ‘have to.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, the T station has escalators, which don’t fill me with dread despite being stairs and all the horror stories my pal Hank the Elevator Guy has told me about these devices. Industrial meat grinders use the same design, he opines.
I exited the station and headed north west. I’ve been carrying a little compass with me these days, and like to check in on the cardinal directions periodically to maintain my bearings. Pittsburgh is still very much a foreign place to me, even after a couple of years here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Passing by an abandoned building along the way, one was amused by the ‘SPQR’ graffiti. If you don’t know what that means, you should read more, specifically the classics of the pre modern era. The decline of the Roman Republic is very much a to[ic you should be familiar with these days.
Edward Gibbon… read Gibbon. Marius and Sulla are next, for us, and that’s where it gets bloody. Caesar is absolutely coming, but is still a few decades away. It will be very exciting for people to watch on tv, all this. They will feel things… indignation, fear, anger, pride… all of the seven deadlies. They will microwave burritos and watch.
Me, I’m just walking here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The major crossing over water for the day was Pittsburgh’s West End Bridge. It crosses the Ohio River, roughly at the waterway’s point of navigable origin where the admixture of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers occurs. It’s yellow.
The specific yellow is a color called ‘Aztec Gold,’ which – if memory serves – is manufactured by Pittsburghs own ‘PPG’ or Pittsburgh Plate Glass.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The ankle was behaving itself. I felt no clicking or the sensation of cords being pulled in my heel or on the top of the foot. I was consciously altering my pace and ‘leaning in’ while walking. A couple of times my brain sent orders down the spine for the legs to move as they normally would have prior to all this trouble. I moved quickly!
Couldn’t sustain it for more than a couple of city blocks at a time, but your humble narrator managed to scuttle along a great deal faster and more surely than at anytime in the last six months.
Top of the world, ma, top of the world.
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.
The Newtown Pentacle 