Posts Tagged ‘Pittsburgh’
Trees and… y’know… Da Effin Woods
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These photos aren’t actually from ‘the effin woods.’ To me, this is woods, as I’m from Brooklyn and spent a not insignificant portion of my adult life wandering around the concrete devastations of Newtown Creek. This location is instead within the borders of North Park here in Pittsburgh, so by definition – thereby – not ‘woods.’
Actual wilderness, with critters and hunters and an opportunity for your body to never be found, that’s about 50 miles from here. Sasquatch sightings are apparently a big thing thereabouts.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned yesterday, one found himself drawn to this side of the Pittsburgh Metro by news of there being a ‘Fountain of Youth’ on the property. As is my habit, I did a bit of ‘research’ on Google maps to find a few other interesting things to point the camera at while in the neighborhood. I try to maximize my efforts.
Currently, I’m planning a day trip for the end of this week to the Panhandle of Western Maryland which sits along the border to West Virginia. That’s an 86 mile/2 hour drive, as opposed to the 30 minute journey to North Park, so the researching I’m doing for that one is a bit more in depth regarding my itinerary.
One has also bookmarked a few sites along the southeastern route from Pittsburgh I’ll be traveling along, including stopping off at a place called Dunbar’s Knob, where a 60 foot tall crucifix is on public display. Said monument is dubbed ‘The Great Cross of Christ.’ Should make for an interesting set of photos, I reckon, if the skies are right.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just like the trip to North Park, I plan on being in the car no later than about 5:30 a.m., in order to take advantage of the utility of angled daylight, and won’t be returning to HQ until well after dark. The town I’m heading for is in Maryland, and is a historically important one, with several points of interest. You’ll be seeing that series of posts in a few weeks. Additionally, I’ve got a series of wooded spots which I plan on visiting as soon as the leaves start turning color. I’ve heard the term ‘the burning hills of Pennsylvania’ is used during the autumn hereabouts, due to all the yellow and orange.
More from North Park tomorrow…
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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.
Da Fowntan a Ute’s
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Checks me out yo, I’m’s like a reg’lar Ponce De Leon wit dis… Bruh!
So, I received the good news that the Fountain of Youth is actually found right here in Pittsburgh, rather than in Florida where the legends embraced by the Imperial Spaniards indicated it as being. Seriously, how could I not wake up at 5:30 in the morning and drive there, after having just heard about it’s existence?
After piloting the Mobile Oppression platform onto the appropriate land mass just north of Pittsburgh proper, and parking the car in an informally designated area along the side of a road, I walked down a muddy slope and then across a smelly stream, and then up a muddier slope. There were many, many angry bugs forming buzzing clouds.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The past is always predicate, so… Pittsburgh has nine municipal parks which together occupy a land mass of some 12,000 acres. North Park accounts for some 3,075 acres of that total, and it’s the largest of the nine. North Park dates back to 1927 when the County Commissioners of Allegheny County, in an effort led by a fellow named E.V. Babcock, voted to create a North and a South Park. They hired an landscape architect named Paul B. Riis to design North Park. The place opened to the public in 1931. ‘New Deal’ Works Projects Administration workers completed several additions to the place throughout the 1930’s, including the ‘Fountain of Youth’ spring house pictured in today’s post.
Click the following link for a cogent governmental description of the park’s history, here for a people’s history of North Park at the fantastic uncoveringpa.com, and for a fantastic historical write up by a high school student(!) check out “The Uproar.”
It wasn’t quite daytime yet when I arrived, and the scene was shadowed by the tree canopy anyway. One deployed the tripod and got busy… ruins to shoot, ruins.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I added the usage of my little but super bright Nitecore flashlight into the recipe for these shots for some fill light, but what you’re looking at above is a mere portal. Within the pictured facade is an interior room, once whose wall sports a metal framed aperture built into it. Beyond this rectangular framing is the famous, and often mentioned, fountain of youth itself.
Gingerly, one approached the edifice, in the awestruck manner of Moses moving toward the bush that burnt. Here I am, said I.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Within… well, first I should mention that when I stepped inside the chamber and turned on the flashlight, the walls were positively crawling with enormous insects. I’m talking “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” sized creepy crawly bugs. Big black eyes, and large enough that you could hear their feet scratching along the wet rock while they retreated to their hidey holes… and finally… one gazed with palpitant enthusiasm at the aperture leading to the fountain itself.
Apparently, Allegheny County advises against sampling the waters of the Fountain of Youth as they are somewhat contaminated with sewage, and chemical fertilizers which leach into the ground water from a nearby golf course.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s it, right there, the fountain/spring. Kind of underwhelming, I must say, but as mentioned above – it’s a ruin. Regardless, I can tell you that my gray hair had suddenly returned to the luscious dark brown coloration of my youth, and that my tonsils seemed to have autonomously regrown themselves. That process reversed itself on the drive home, and I’ve since returned to looking like a shocking caricature of that younger fellow. It must have been the fountain’s vapors which triggered the temporary condition, no doubt due to the miasmic fumes one would expect in such a place. Feeling satisfied with what I had gathered, I headed back to the car.
Luckily, a humble narrator had done no small amount of planning before leaving HQ, and another interesting site in North Park awaited.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In accordance with the title and first line of this post, I will resume the attempt to phonetically translate my native Brooklyn Brogue into written English for the sum up to my tale:
Sose, I’s drove overs ta ‘effin Nord Pahk in Piddsboig causin I hoid that dey gots one a dem Fowntan a Ute’s type tings ovah dere. I seens a buncha bugs and shit, and somebody coulda – y’know – easily fell on his ass and cracked his melon opens cause dere’s no sets a stairs or sidewahk or nuttin, and youse gots to walk in the effin doit and a crosses a friggin streams which gets your kicks all effin wets.
Back’s tommorahs wit more of this kinda bull – at guess what – your effin Newtown Pentacle, like an icehole.
“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.
From West End Overlook
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One has mentioned, and offered views from, Pittsburgh’s West End Overlook Park in the past. This spot is about a 15 minute long and quite easily executed drive from HQ in the nearby Borough of Dormont, and the overlook provides commanding views of the city center. You’re actually executing about a half mile of change in altitude while driving through three and change miles horizontally – it’s a thousand feet down to the level of the river from Dormont, and then around a thousand feet up through the neighborhoods of West End and Elliot. Proximity means I find myself heading up there periodically to wave the camera about.
This time around, it was that interval of the day during which the burning thermonuclear eye of God itself disappears behind Ohio.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the juncture, right in front of the fountain at Point State Park, of the three rivers – where the Monongahela and Allegheny combine to form the Ohio River. I’m told Lewis and Clark left for their famous adventure on the Jeffersonian mission to examine the western territories gained via the Louisiana Purchase from somewhere nearby. I’m also led to believe that the stand of tall buildings on the right hand side of the ‘point’ used to be a rather busy rail yard.
Moe the Dog was along for this excursion, and so was Our Lady of the Pentacle, whom he was hauling about at her end of his leash. This spot is absolutely infested with Spotted Lantern Flies, I would mention, and as Moe considers the pests to be flying popcorn… let’s just say Moe did his part to combat the infestation.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As you’ve probably discerned, I was playing about with various methods of capturing the scenery. I shot a few panoramas as well, such as this one. A humble narrator really likes this spot for several reasons.
There’s ample parking, and a Port A Potty is found in the parking lot at the entrance to the place. There’s lot of strollers, pot smokers, and dog walkers who frequent the spot and on more than one occasion, I’ve seen and chatted with other members of the tripod and lens crowd as well as Drone pilots, and even a broadcast television videographer up here. It reminds me of the scene long enjoyed along the East River along Long Island City’s piers during Manhattanhenge.
If I’m coming here though, it’s always at the bookends of the day – very early or nearly late. I haven’t done the ‘dead of night’ here. Yet.
“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.
Whiskey Boys Trail
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I find myself having to head over to Home Depot about once a month for some needed gizmo or material or tool or ‘something random.’ The drive to the nearest outpost of the retail giant takes me from the Pittsburgh suburb of Dormont through another town, dubbed Scott Township, on my way to a third community called Bridgeville (which counterintuitively doesn’t have all that much going on in the way of bridges). About midway through the 20 minute drive from Dormont, where HQ is located, I’ve been noticing signage indicating the presence of the “Whiskey Boys Trail” and “Kane Woods.”
Normally this sort of thing ain’t exactly my bag, but Moe the Dog prospers in natural areas. I still can’t let him off the leash, as he’s a puppy and thereby a total idiot, but part of his training and development requires trees and dirt. I don’t like taking him places that I haven’t checked out first, so… Hence.
A good dog is a tired dog, that’s the mantra.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There are basically three or four paths set into a fairly steep hill here. Every now and then, you’ll find a visual break in the ‘sylvania’ thing and see a road, or as in the case of the shot above, a bunch of utility poles. An hour’s drive from Pittsburgh will land you in actual, real woods, the kind people go hunting in and which are known for Sasquatch sightings. This ain’t that, but after shlepping around this trail for about an hour or so I realized that the little bastard would love this spot.
I’ve since returned with Moe, who proceeded to pull me up a hill at running puppy speeds. He ate about 25 pounds of spotted lantern flies, composted a few cubits worth of sticks and branches with his snapping puppy jaws, and was generally exhausted after we returned back home. He slept for an hour, puked lantern fly parts, and was a bit calmer than normal for about 24 hours. Then he bit me in the crotch again.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Moe has the advantage on this sort of substrate, I would mention, with his quadruped stance and pointy toes. I was wearing a pair of Merrel hiking boots with nearly bald soles, and he more or less was able to drag my fat butt anywhere he wanted to. If I had a sled with me, we could have delivered presents to orphans.
Back next week.
“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.
CSX in the rain
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
To start with, as a humble narrator is punching away at the keyboard and writing this very post – he’s just suffered through a root canal procedure at one of the local Dentists here in Pittsburgh. This wasn’t a bucket list assignation, I would mention, instead it’s the result of me not exactly winning the genetic lottery when it comes to dentition. Ultimately, it’s just pain. I’ve felt worse.
Conversely and regarding the photograph above, captured on an evening during which I was feeling considerably less pain – since I was at a bar – one was lucky enough to witness another parade of CSX freight trains navigating along the CSX Pittsburgh Subdivision along southern side of the Monongahela River. That’s CSX #296, which is positively modern – a General Electric built AC4400CW model locomotive which hit the rails in September of 1997 – or so I’m told. It was pulling carloads of coke and coal in an eastwards direction.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Next up was CSX #916 – an ‘ES44AH’ model locomotive also built by the guys and gals at General Electric. It was hauling cargo boxes and tankers, heading westwards.
The worst mouth pain I ever experienced was the time that I got kicked in the mouth during a biker bar fight on the west side of Manhattan. This is before the gentrification dealie really got going in the Meat Market zone, and I caught the toe of combat boot as it smashed vertically into one of my front teeth. That one hurt for a long while, mainly as I didn’t have the cash on hand to visit a dentist. I still feel it sometimes, mainly when trying to eat a hard pretzel.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The life I lead now is quite different, as compared to those days. Back then, when an injury occurred which didn’t involve bleeding to death, I’d just kind of suck it up. I’ve been stabbed, beat up… heck, I once had a guy work me over with a baseball bat back in the Brooklyn days. Once, I broke my drawing hand, during an interval when I was working as a professional comic artist and illustrator. My ‘pay the rent’ job had to get done, so I propped the brush into my swollen digits and then used masking tape to sequester my broken hand around the thing in order to get the job done. To this day, my right hand’s pinky finger still sticks out at an odd angle. It looks like I’m drinking tea from a comically small cup, all the time.
That’s CSX #5206, a GE ES40DC model locomotive. As you can see, it was starting to rain, but I kept on drinking beer and pointing the camera at passing locomotives.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
By the time that CSX #568 came along, hauling cargo boxes and tanker cars, the rain had become steadier just as it was starting to get dark out. My lens got wet, as you can tell from the streaks, but there’s something I really like about that one above.
I’ve got a million injury tales, as a humble narrator is both a real klutz and has a long history of annoying people so much that they are compelled to rain blows upon me. The most recent major ‘owwie’ was that ghoulish crush injury to my left big toe that happened (at home) near the end of 2019, which is the reason why I was limping when the pandemic came around. That was a real joy, I tell’s ya. Thing is, I used to heal like Wolverine, but not so much anymore in my dotage.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A second shot of #568 was my favorite of the session, with the droplets of rain suspended in the head lamp illumination of the locomotive.
I don’t really talk about the heart attack these days, but that happened too. It’s the ‘levee breaking’ moment for a humble narrator, and the juncture moment by which I divide my life into ‘before and after.’ I guess that moving out of NYC to Pittsburgh is another such moment, and it’s something I’d have never even considered prior to that experience. The experience changed me profoundly.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After about four pints of beer, I was half in the bag and it was time to head back to HQ in nearby Dormont. Luckily, just after paying my tab, CSX #7271 came roaring through. It’s a GE AC4400CWM model. Frankly, I don’t remember what it was hauling, as I was on my way out.
The Root Canal business has been a real pain in the butt, or noggin more accurately. Expensive procedure, but I’ve been experiencing quite a bit of excruciatingly annoying pain for the last few weeks whenever ingesting cold beverages or eating anything that required serious chomping. It’s part of the whole medical journey I’ve been on since getting to Pittsburgh.
Excellent health system here in Pittsburgh, I would offer. A marked contrast to the rushed experience of NYC’s system. Same science, of course, but the Docs here take their time with you since they’re not as worried about paying their landlord’s an exorbitant rent.
“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 