Father Pitt – Page 336 – Why should the beautiful die?

2112 East Carson Street, South Side

A well-proportioned building little changed since it was put up. You may notice, by the way, that older storefronts always have inset doors. Why is that? you ask. Somehow we have forgotten the reason for this obvious precaution, but our ancestors had much more practical minds than we have. For fire safety, doors should open outward. If they are flush with the sidewalk, however, they can open outward right into the face of a passing pedestrian and break his nose.

Camera: Canon PowerShot A590 IS (hacked).

September 27, 2015

Ornamental Grass and Fountain in the Outdoor Garden at Phipps Conservatory

Camera: Olympus E-20n.

September 25, 2015

Barge on the Allegheny

Another moving still picture: a barge heads downstream past the Armstrong Cork Factory toward the Sixteenth Street Bridge.

September 23, 2015

Dusk on the Allegheny

Camera: Olympus E-20n.

September 22, 2015

Caterpillar

A caterpillar of the Hickory Tussock Moth (Lophocampa caryae) crawls through the leaves.

September 22, 2015

Union Church, Robinson Township

Formerly Union Presbyterian Church, this congregation has been here more than two centuries. In the adjacent burying ground are several Revolutionary War veterans, and the hilltop church with the cemetery below is irresistibly picturesque.

Old Pa Pitt, however, could not get a good picture of the church today, because he was there in the afternoon when the sun was shining in the wrong direction. So instead he gives you the next best thing, which is an atmospheric picture. You can always compensate for a picture’s defects by turning it black and white and calling it art.

Camera: Canon PowerShot A590 IS (hacked).

September 22, 2015

Mushrooms in Schenley Park

To Father Pitt’s untrained eye they look like boletes of some sort. He will not attempt an exact identification, because he is not very well informed in fungal matters.

Camera: Canon PowerShot A590 IS (hacked).

September 21, 2015

Carnegie Library, South Side Branch

Another branch library by Andrew Carnegie’s favorite architectural firm, Alden & Harlow, who also gave us (as Longfellow, Alden & Harlow) the main Carnegie Institute building in Oakland.

Camera: Canon PowerShot A590 IS (hacked).

September 20, 2015

Tufa Bridge in Schenley Park

Camera: Canon PowerShot A540 (hacked).

September 19, 2015

Differential Grasshopper

A Differential Grasshopper (Melanoplus differentialis) on a seedhead of Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota) in Schenley Park. These grasshoppers are sometimes destructive to crops, but they can have all the Queen Anne’s Lace they want. There’s plenty to go around.

Camera: Canon PowerShot A590 IS (hacked).

September 19, 2015