The Newtown Pentacle

Tuesday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

‘Pennsylvania’ means ‘Penn’s Woods,’ and the place definitely lives up to that ‘Sylvan’ label. Unlike my native NYC, where trees are often caged, the woody things are allowed to roam free out here and fill up the landscape. I’ve mentioned Pittsburgh’s abundance of urban forest before, but once you get a half hour out from the City in any direction from the center of all things, the suburbs give way to vast tracts of land where these vegetable overlords are in charge.

Recent endeavor found one heading over to Robinson Township (a low density suburb with an abundance of strip malls and chain stores, which is set against heavily wooded hills) and a section of the Montour Trail (pictured) which I hadn’t visited yet for a medium length scuttle.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

I’ve mentioned this ‘rail to trail’ facility many times since relocating to Pittsburgh in December of 2022, and one often contemplates his lamentations about the world, and literally everything I’ve ever screwed up, echoing between the ears and behind the eyes while walking along it. My internal voice is seldom a pleasant companion, so I’ve recently opted for listening to podcasts and audiobooks to drown out the internal condemnations.

I’m in the mid 4th century on Mike Duncan’s ‘History of Rome’ at this point and the actions of Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, were being discussed in some depth during this walk by the author.

A side trail beckoned, and one positively plunged into the verge.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Montour Run is the name of the waterway found down here, and that bridge in the shot above is the same one seen in the distance of the first shot. This water follows the trail, which used to carry railroad tracks, and looks like it’s a semi artificial waterway that provided drainage for the tracks. Based on olfactory observation, Montour Run receives a bit of residential and commercial sewerage and runoff as well.

Not too much, and mostly storm water in my estimation, as there was just a hint of of the scent of honey floating around down here. The NYC DEP taught me to call sewage honey, I should mention.

It had been a minute since I set up the tripod for flowing water shots, so I cracked out a few exposures down here.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

One busted through the brush and returned to the trail. The goal for the day was five miles, and so did a humble narrator lean into the walk. It was quite a warm day, and is the case with nature type settings during warm weather – kind of buggy. People were riding bikes, and jogging, and walking big friendly dogs and or toddlers.

The great thing about these rail trails is that there were originally graded for railroads, and provide a fairly easy path through the steep hills and valleys of this Appalachian landscape.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

There’s all sorts of ‘used to be, once, long ago’ ruinations found along the path, and more than once I found myself pushing through heavy brush and picking my way amongst the trees to attain certain points of view.

A native Pennsylvanian would laugh at me for describing these wooded pockets as ‘woods.’ There are ‘state game lands’ nearby which offer actual ‘woods’ that stretch for hundreds of square acres in any direction, and these areas are said to host a myriad of seldom mentioned or observed critters. Bear, deer… hunters even report spotting Bigfoots crashing about in these wild areas.

You probably ain’t gonna see a Bigfoot traveling through here, I’d mention. The airport is about five miles away, and Pittsburgh is about twenty. Also – Bigfoots prefer Amtrak or the Megabus when they travel rather than airlines.

They need a lot of leg room, the Bigfoots. Bwah, hah, ha.

Here all week, two shows on Saturday.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Having hit my turn around point on the trail, it was time to reverse course and head back towards the parking lot where the Mobile Oppression Platform awaited. This walk ended up being just over six miles in the end, rather than my planned upon five.

Back tomorrow with something different.

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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.