Posts Tagged ‘North Side’
Never miss an opportunity
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A humble narrator has been obliging the wishes of his team of doctors in recent weeks, who have decreed that he submit to a now annual series of tests. These procedures are ingenious, including the use of high frequency sound waves and or queer radiations which are focused through my decaying flesh and the rot of my physical firmament.
The white coat and blue pants brigade have also been siphoning off the ichor in my veins, and sampling the various jellies and syrups found within the skinvelope, for chemical analysis. Nothing is particularly wrong with me other than the usual stuff, but these scholars seem to enjoy testing my patience as well as my fleshy bits.
My resolve is to ‘play ball with the docs,’ on a now annual basis. Back in NYC, I’d generally only seek medical attention when bleeding.
I’m making the best of all these violations of comfort and privacy, and since I’m in the habit of carrying a camera with me everywhere I go – took the opportunity after a recent ultrasound lookie-loo to crack out a few shots from the roof of Allegheny General Hospital’s parking lot roof.
Have to admit, I love the sound of the word ‘ultrasound.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The hospital where this particular procedure was inflicted is on the north side of Pittsburgh, so the perspective on this one is looking southwest towards the downtown section. It’s a ‘stitched panorama,’ meaning that I took about five photos while twisting at the waist, and ran them through a photoshop function to combine and blend them together into a panorama.
As a note: My neck was all sticky after the ultrasound, and its accompanying application of weird institutional jellies, and I felt pretty gross. Bleh!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I don’t know about you – lords and ladies – but one such as myself is silently screaming when submitting to the attentions of the physicians. Nightmare fuel, most of it.
A recent trial involved a multiple appointments series of Periodontal treatments at my Dentist. I’ve lived my life in a manner which is designed to avoid having power tools inserted into my mouth, but acquiescence to medical advice is a wise course of action and thereby I endured multiple hours of this particular torture. Good news is that my gums are now as pink as a baby’s bottom.
Did you know that most of the men who would eventually form the KGB’s torture squads, under the early rule of the Soviets, were Dentists?
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Just scuttling, me
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A long walk was underway, and a humble narrator was enjoying the day. The weather was on my side, and so was the light. As you’ll see next week, things were about to get super interesting for one such as myself to marvel at – trains, tugs, all sorts of interesting things crossed my path.
One walked from the Penn Station ‘T’ light rail stop over to the Allegheny River and crossed the waterway on one of the ‘Three Sisters’ bridges, specifically the Roberto Clemente bridge.
I think that’s the Rachel Carson bridge pictured above, which is named for the Pittsburgh author who wrote the seminal environmentalist text ‘Silent Spring.’ I might be wrong, though, as the three bridges are fairly identical.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My walking path continued along behind the sportsball stadiums on Pittsburgh’s north side, where I indulged myself by shooting some of the many on and off ramps which carry highway traffic through this section of the city.
I’ve often mentioned how attracted to the parabolic arcs and clean linear nature of such infrastructure I am, despite its somewhat conflicting purpose. It’s likely that I-279 is up there, but who knows? There’s an absolute web of these highways and byways that converge around the stadiums.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The first lucky ‘gotcha’ that I encountered on what ended up being an extremely lucky afternoon was a T light rail unit rising up out of its ‘subway’ tunnel, and onto the elevated tracks that carry the service towards its terminal stop. My plan was to pass all that by and walk over to the West End Bridge over the Ohio River, head east, and then follow the shoreline path back to where I’d encounter the T again at a different station.
Back next week with some of the cool stuff I encountered along the way 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.
No scuttle, no peace
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Pictured above is an Allegheny Valley Railroad train set negotiating itself over the Fort Wayne railroad bridge, which spans the Allegheny River and the train is heading towards Downtown Pittsburgh. This bridge, and the particular direction that the AVRR train is heading, lead to a set of tracks in the center of the city which Amtrak and Norfolk Southern also use to head eastwards.
As mentioned a few times in this story, this scuttle was playing out on a warm day, and a humble narrator had spent the couple of weeks prior sitting on his butt at home. I was not enjoying the humidity or warmth as I haven’t fully acclimated away from winter yet, and in my defense it was forty degrees not two days before these shots were gathered. I was thereby in a full sweat, and every step was increasingly an act of will even though the first mile of my intentions had barely been expressed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One was scuttling along the section of the Three Rivers Heritage Trail which is found on the north shore of the Allegheny River. It’s not exactly a demanding route, given that it’s graded and paved, but after my long somnolent period – agony. My back hurt, and so did my butt. I was sweating profusely and not feeling so great. The drill is to lean into it, tough it out, and get past thoughts of discomfort though. You can sit and whine about it at home later, I told myself. It’s not like you have a choice about exercise, it’s a requirement.
While pedantically negotiating with my lizard brain, I couldn’t help but notice a little blue house which seemed to be the sole survivor of a lost civilization, nearby the former Heinz Factory.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The trail is well wooded, and there are long intervals during which you’re marching through a tunnel of trees and vegetation. That’s nice.
Last time that I scuttled through here during the early winter, there were dozens of homeless encampments observed along the path – tents and lean to’s surrounded by middens of garbage. I’ve heard that the gendarmes were sent in to clear the area of such habitations, and the effort seems to have been successful at accomplishing its stated goal. I do wonder where all the street people have moved on to, though.
Right about when I was shooting the photo above at a clearing in the wall of vegetation, of a tug and barge doing some sort of construction duty with a ‘Dick’s Sporting Goods’ advertising blimp overhead, that’s when I really started craving some sort of hydration. I seldom carry a water bottle with me, and my NYC born habit always involves the statement that ‘I’d stop at a bodega somewhere and grab a Gatorade or something.’
The problem with Pittsburgh, as I’ve discovered, is they ain’t got no bodegas out here. It’s ‘car country’ and the best you’re going to do is find a gas station with a convenience store attached to it or happen across some random 711 or McDonald’s, but those are far and few between.
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.
Wide angle scuttle
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After riding the T light rail through the city center of Pittsburgh, as detailed yesterday, a humble narrator decided to affix a wide angle lens to the camera for the start of what I had planned on being a longish walk. The lens was 16mm, before you ask. This was one of the days where I leave the heavy zoom lenses at home, and head out with a ‘bag of primes.’
Prime lenses are fixed at certain focal lengths, as opposed to zooms which allow for multiple focal lengths. I had my 85mm, 50mm, 35mm in the bag, and the 16mm which the camera was wearing during this part of the day. I also had a tripod with me, but didn’t need or use it in this section of my afternoon. Before the day was done, I’d rotate throughout the collection.
It was warm in Pittsburgh, about 75 degrees, and characteristically humid. The weather report will figure into my tale from later in the day, but at this juncture everything was just swell.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As often mentioned, I’m fascinated by the parabolic and arcing shapes created by highway ‘on and off’ ramps, an urban feature which Pittsburgh has no shortage of. This particular bit of infrastructure pictured above and below offers vehicle traffic egress to the Fort Duquesne Bridge, which connects the north shore of the Allegheny River to the so called ‘golden triangle’ of Downtown. They also overfly the massive parking lots which surround the sportsball stadiums.
Now, for a mundane variety of reasons I had largely spent the two weeks prior to this doing absolutely nothing, outside of HQ. All the reasons are salubrious, but those 14 days of sitting around would bite me hard later in the day. I’m not used to being ‘still’ for too long, and thereby my lower back and legs were quite stiff, and it took me almost a mile to find a comfortable rythym for the walk.
I was determined, however, to get in a decent workout of about ten miles. If only…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Regardless of intention, I was enjoying the 16mm wide angle shooting, which is something I’m still getting acclimatized to using. I made a right turn, heading southwards towards the Allegheny waterfront and its welcoming trail. The plan was pretty simple, which was to walk the trail all the back about three and change miles, cross a bridge, and then double back on the other side.
Best laid plans…
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.
Serendipitous scuttling
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Our Lady of the Pentacle underwent a medical procedure back in October, and thusly has had to go visit the Doctor a few times since for post procedural checkups. This entire scenario of hers takes place at Allegheny General Hospital on Pittsburgh’s North Side, and I’ve usually got an hour to an hour and a half to kill while she’s in with the Doc.
I parked the Mobile Oppression Platform at a meter spot and took myself a short walk, thereby, while a light snow was falling. I was heading over to, and ultimately hanging out, on an overlook that sits above a set of railroad tracks.
Just yesterday, I described Allegheny Valley Railroad as being like a ‘white whale’ – rarely seen, and never if you’re actually looking for it. Just to make a liar of me…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was a pretty busy interval, rail traffic wise. These are Norfolk Southern’s tracks, and a good amount of mid afternoon activity was underway. These rails feed into a set of tracks that lead north easterly along the Allegheny River, and also allow egress onto the Fort Wayne Rail Bridge – which leads to a track that’s set pretty much through the center of the City, and are a primary freight pathway eastwards towards the ocean coast. Amtrak uses those same rails, too.
The air was brutally cold. As mentioned, a light snow was underway, but atmospheric temperatures were in the low 20’s and a stiff wind was blowing. I was wearing my ‘Pittsburgh Winter Coat,’ which is quite warm and mostly water repellant.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Regardless, I still had some time to kill and the trains were rolling by one after the other. I’ve got a whole insulation system I use for this sort of weather condition, with my sweat shirt hood pulled up and over the brim of my baseball cap and the jackets hood up over that. I lose peripheral vision doing this, but it keeps my face and eyeglasses dry and forms a pocket of warm air around my ears and neck.
The spot I was standing on is a small street bridge over these tracks which has recently been closed to vehicle traffic, as it is structurally unsound.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
From behind me, another train heading west appeared. I bathed in the hot diesel fumes it was pushing up above it, which felt like a summer breeze but smelt like the apocalypse.
This is the same set of tracks leading to the trench through Allegheny Commons Park which I had been haunting in early December.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A triplet of engines set off for points east next, which is right about when Our Lady texted me to say that she was done with the Doctors and required pick up in the Mobile Oppression Platform. I scuttled back towards the MOP’s metered parking spot, which took me back along the fences of Allegheny Commons Park.
I heard the rumble a few seconds before the next train was coming my way, and was able to run over to a somewhat opportune spot in time.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The White Whale was back, heading south eastward along the tracks.
Mind you, if I was specifically trying to get a shot of the AVRR, I’d still be standing there a month later. That’s just the way it goes for a humble narrator.
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.
The Newtown Pentacle 