Category Archives: Walking

Very satisfying day

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This is Spring Break, but my geology class met today for a geology walk in Frick Park. It was a little gray and cold, and a lot muddy, but a great experience. This is the park I walk through fairly often. Today was completely different. I always look at the trees, the birds, the flowers. I’ve noticed the rocks, but never given them much thought. So, it was almost magical when Al Kollar, Dsc06757
from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, showed us the evidence of how this area was under water, at least twice, and how the sandstone eroded to create the hollows and ravines in the park.

I was amazed to learn that the stones in the path were formed somewhere else two million years ago and deposited by the water. Dsc06762
Huge boulders I had walked past many times had fossils from sea water creatures. Still hard to see, but who knew! Alongside the path there was a fast moving stream–never there in summer or fall. It was almost like I was in a different park. Here’s an island beginning to form from the sediment in the stream.Dsc06759

There was lots of mud. Dsc06772
You can see all the traffic: bikes, dogs and people. The red mud is from the Pittsburgh red beds. Everything has a name.



Here are my muddy shoes. I haven’t had so much mud on my shoes since I was a kid.

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Still walking

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I had trouble getting out of bed this morning. I thought most of the damage was on my left side, but late last night my right knee refused to straighten. This morning it was red and swollen and still didn’t want to function. My right wrist and shoulder also bothered me.

I skipped my first class; just couldn’t get moving. By 11 am, after a long, hot shower, I was able to walk again and took the bus to my memoir writing class. Amazingly, I was able to walk fairly easily after sitting 2 hours. I find I’m much more comfortable when I continue walking and exercising the knee. I got off the bus at Whole Foods, bought stuff for supper, got another bus and came home. Now I’m back to working on the Japan trip.

Walking in Frick Park

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My walking partners haven’t been around all weekend. This morning I decided to walk by myself. The exercise isn’t as good; I tend to walk slower when I’m by myself. But I’m glad I went alone this morning. It was a beautiful day and I spent a lot of time photographing. Although the leaves haven’t fully turned yet, they’ve started to fall and you can see the approach of autumn.

I’m not entirely happy with my photographs. I spent a lot of time this afternoon trying to learn the controls on my camera. I want to get better results when I am in Japan.

Take a walk with me. The stretching tree is half-way in my walk. I use it to stretch out my calf muscles; less pain later. I usually turn around there, and retrace my steps. Today I took another trail–all uphill. It’s a beautiful trail and I wanted the extra exercise.

I haven’t been able to embed my slide show in this post, but you can see it here.


Art and Ephemera

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Weather today is wonderful–warm sun, cool breeze. I walked over to the Center for the Arts, about a mile away, to see the work of Adam Grossi, the nephew of a friend in New Jersey. The show was interesting, although I have to admit I don’t really understand what he is trying to communicate. Only a couple of paintings really spoke to me. Strange, because he is a terrific writer. I have the feeling he is still searching for a language in his painting.  Maybe it’s my age that’s speaking.

The walk was great. I found a route that keeps me off of Penn and Fifth Avenues, both heavily trafficked. It feels wonderful to walk in the cool shade, emerge into the too warm sun, then back into the shade. I passed a house where someone was playing a strange sounding musical instrument. Earlier, on my way to the Center, they were singing with the music. There is something special about walking by and catching a few notes, just as walking past someone wearing perfume: I don’t want to be overwhelmed, just given a small taste.

Some of the trees are strange and special. Planted in the narrow parkway between sidewalk and curb their roots show above ground and form a wooden platform under the tree. I don’t know whether the cause is the  narrowness of the space, the clay soil, or both. I also saw a house I would like to own. It’s not for sale and I haven’t seen the inside, but it’s relatively new and thoughtfully designed. Very interesting.