The Newtown Pentacle

Wednesday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Well, happy summertime, I guess. The Newtown Pentacle Time Warp (patent pending) is still in effect, as your humble narrator has somehow managed to maintain his ‘good month or so’ of ‘lead time’ on these posts. The photos in today’s post were captured at the very end of April, and the words you’re reading were encoded at the end of May.

In yesterday’s post, the latest scuttle had begun, which saw my horrific countenance appear on Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington. The path for this day started on a particularly steep, and serpentine, street called Sycamore – which I’d only driven upon in the past.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Y’know, if this was NYC, I’d be able to say ‘east,’ ‘west’… all that… and then refer to something about the sun disappearing behind New Jersey. I’m of the opinion that the point of view in the shot above is ‘more or less’ north, but I’m often wrong about things. Ask anyone.

People just love to point out when I’m wrong about something or other. Not in the way I’d hope, where you point out something evidentiary that I missed and I’d offer Mea Culpas while presenting your evidence here in a seperate post. Instead: No. It’s not real, that’s AI. Used to be ‘that’s not real it’s photoshop.’

‘You said ‘such and such’ happened on July 1st, but it was 12:01 am on July 2nd, so thereby you’re wrong about every single assertion you’ve ever offered.’ I’m also a big fan of when somebody decides what my politics must be because I took a picture of a train or something.

Funnily enough, I don’t have any problem with being corrected, as that’s how you learn things that are outside of your experience.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

We seem to be living in a ‘no second chances’ stage of the American culture. The rules of morality shift and change every day, and what was ‘kosher’ last year may be heresy now. There is no room whatsoever for people to evolve, get educated, or earn redemption for past sins. You must be emotionally and politically perfect, from infanthood, and naturally.

If not – deeply problematic – as the Millenials would say.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Sycamore Street’s course consists of a series of switchbacks which carry it from the apex of Mount Washington’s ridge line down to the flood plain of the Monongahela River, coming to ground in the ‘South Side Flats’ zone.

There aren’t any sidewalks on this section, as it’s kind of a narrowed roadway path. What kind of a moron would actually want to walk this way, anyway? Why not just take the incline?

I should mention – It’s bad, between the ears right now.

A humble narrator finds himself existing in a constancy of annoyance. Cortisol levels are high, and internal rage is epic. A constant struggle is under way to ‘just pretend.’ Luckily, when out scuttling, I’m all by myself and don’t have to engage in the fantasy that World War 3 isn’t right around the next corner. Speaking of…

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Along the route, elevated trestles carry other roadways.

The one flying through the shot above is called the PJ McArdle roadway, which I’ve walked down several times in the past. There’s a car lot nearby, for a park’s hiking trail I haven’t experienced yet. It’s something which I’ve been holding off doing, due to the lingering annoyances emanating from the orthopedic incident and the fact that it’s ‘natural’ ground.

The broken ankle was a profound injury, actually, which seems to have changed me in weird ways. Beyond the helplessness and crazy amounts of pain experienced during the injury’s immediate aftermath, and the severity of the PTSD symptoms which I’ve been bitching about related to stairs, it’s been a year since I’ve started really moving around again and yet – the recovering joint still offers periodic surprises.

On this day, for instance, a wicked cramp popped up in a calf muscle. Big whup, I know, but this was the kind of cramp you can plainly see playing out under the skin. Looked like a snake was moving around inside my calf! Yikes!

I needed a quick break.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Luckily, some truck based business located mid slope, on a carved out flat lot, seems to have exited the space and their parking pad was available to me for a quick respite. I found a quick ‘sit down’ spot, and rubbed my non camera holding hand upon the limb, until the blood started flowing in a predictable manner again.

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.

Tuesday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Grandview Avenue is a street which rides along the ridge line of Mount Washington here in Pittsburgh, offering visitors paramount points of view over the City. At either end of the landform, tertiary local streets drip down and away from Grandview, providing access to the surrounding hills, flood plains, bridges, tunnels, and the rivers.

This time around, my walk got started about a block back from Grandview Avenue, at one of the local roads ‘up there,’ which is called Shiloh Street. Shiloh, where a BID promotes several tourism focused businesses, leads down to Sycamore Street – which is a very interesting sort of pathway to one such as myself. Gotta stop saying that, as there really isn’t anyone else who is like myself. It’s a curse.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Sycamore Street is pretty steep in this section, and as soon as you leave Shiloh Street it transmogrifies from commercial to residential zoning.

Space is tight up here on Mount Washington, and the multi story buildings are practically built on top of each other, with only narrow alleys or driveways between them.

Behind me is a long residential section of Sycamore Street, but the section I was walking on this particular day is the fun part. To me, at least.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

At Sycamore’s intersection with Wyoming Street, there’s a large undeveloped lot. I’ve driven by this lot several times and have always wondered what was going on there. As it turns out, not too much.

I’m unclear as to what’s going on here. I’ve seen online speculation that some big real estate development deal fell through, or something like that. It doesn’t seem abandoned, this property. Somebody mows the grass here, I’d point out. There aren’t middens of garbage, or illegal dumping.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

There’s the remains of a public street there, pictured above, dubbed Vinecliffe Street. Notice the strip of sidewalk pavement, and the metal bannisters, on the right. One kicked his feet about, looking to see if there might be an interesting point of view, but when there was one it was largely obscured by the bush and I couldn’t justify getting closer due to my whole ‘I don’t want to fall off a cliff’ thing. That would be embarrassing.

Something used to be here, as there were large blocks of concrete and the remains of a few retaining walls spotted here and there. Additionally, there are the demapped streets like Vinecliffe.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

That was the best view I could find, above. The bridge at the bottom of the shot is the Smithfield Street Bridge, spanning the Monongahela River between the ‘South Side Flats’ and ‘Downtown Pittsburgh.’

Not that anyone would really care other than me, but I was likely trespassing, so a heel spin was executed and I headed back over to the particular pathway which was my day’s early focus.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Steep, it’s steep I tell you… steep.

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.