Another Saturday in the Burgh

                                      

Mr. Rip and I were meeting our son and his fiancee for lunch at the Sonoma Grille in downtown Pittsburgh this past Saturday.  We decided to make a day of it because we had two admissions to the Heinz History Center we'd been meaning to use.  

I thought as long as we were down there anyway, we might as well take a walk down to Point State Park and see the duck, as preposterous as I thought it was that there was a 40-foot-tall duck docked in Pittsburgh's rivers.

The History Center was first on the day's itinerary.  While I hadn't been there in several years I always love a visit to this museum.  Its beautifully designed displays are all about Pittsburgh, which conveniently happens to be my favorite city and my hometown.  

We saw the very impressive Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum (a museum within a museum) for the first time.  This is a real treat even for those with the most passing interest in sports.  It featured sports like bocce ball and rowing right alongside all things Pirates, Steelers and Penguins, and had a whole section that explored what actually constitutes a sport.  Fascinating stuff.

But the highlight of the visit to me was the special exhibit featuring the artistry of Pittsburgh native Burton Morris.  Morris' Pop Art is so called not just because of the genre he works in, but because his art captures pop cultural themes and the bright colors and techniques he uses make the images he produces pop off the canvas, sometimes literally (in the traditional sense of that word).  I couldn't get enough of it - I loved one image more the next.  Burton Morris' art made me very very happy.

Next up was the day's raison d'être - lunch with JJ and his lovely lady.  It was the first time we saw them since their engagement. It was wonderful sharing their excitement, hearing about the very beginning of their planning process, and of course seeing the beautiful ring on her finger, where it clearly belongs. Our happiness grew watching their joy.

Just in case we forgot we were in Pittsburgh while we were there, a Slovak group was having a Beer Tasting with entertainment by an accordion player in the restaurant while we lunched. 

Then we were off to see the 40 foot tall rubber duck that the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust brought to town to kick off its Festival of Firsts. Pittsburgh is the first city in the United States to host the duck, which is the brainchild of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman.(http://www.newpittsburghcourieronline.com/index.php/featured-news/metro/17748-40-foot-rubber-duck-arrives-in-pittsburgh)

The only reason that the Duck wasn't the biggest news in the Burgh this October was because the Pirates were in the playoffs. People are flocking to the Point to see the Duck and get their picture taken with it.  Pictures of it are EVERYWHERE. I couldn't believe all the fuss over what is essentially just a big rubber ducky.  Frankly, I thought it was all kind of ridiculous.

However, since we were downtown anyway, I thought we should check it out - you know because it was there, and so I could say that I did.  It was a beautiful day so if nothing else it would be a nice walk. The closer we got to the Point the more people we saw milling around.  Mr. Rip wanted to know what all these people were doing downtown.

They were there for the duck.  People from all walks of life -young and old, couples of all ages, families with young children, extended families, groups of teenagers, all ethnicities. If you didn't know any better you might think that Pittsburgh was a thriving, multicultural metropolitan area. Everyone was in a really good mood; it was the most pleasant crowd I've ever been in.

We made the acquaintance of another couple who couldn't quite believe they were there for the duck and we took each other's pictures with the duck. We walked all the way around Point State Park again for the first time in a long time, soaking in the beautiful panoramic views of the North Shore, the South Side, and of course those three rivers, and appreciating them anew. 

The whole day just made me smile.  Hofman has said that the duck has "healing properties" (Ibid). Maybe it does, but so does spending a day with your favorite people in Pittsburgh celebrating everything that it is.

It's Sporadically Sunny in Pittsburgh

My husband asked me in January when I was going to write my annual “snow blog.” I guess it’s true that I usually write at least one blog a year complaining about the snow, in addition to my annual post about how I drove myself to the hospital in a snowstorm to give birth.  But there was no need this year.

We had a Mild Winter.  With apologies to my friends and family who welcome the snow for a number of reasons, this made me very, very happy.  There were only a handful of significant snowfalls, and most of those took place on Friday nights.  This allowed us to plan to stay home on Saturday and ride out the storm in just the way I like, that is to say under an afghan with some hot beverage in the comfort of my own home.  It was all pretty civilized.

I helped the situation along by buying a salt spreader to go along with my “snow blower,” which is more of an electric shovel than an actual blower, and really only works when the snow is less than five inches, making it good for one of the two big weekday snowfalls this season.

Now I hate snow so much that it is my policy never to complain about any other kind of inclement weather.  It doesn’t matter what it is.  Extreme temperatures, crazy winds, rain, whatever, bring it on.  Just don’t make me drive in the snow.  This is a good thing because I live in the greater metropolitan Pittsburgh area where we enjoy all the different seasons, sometimes all in the same day.

I have to say though that the weather has been particularly wacky this year, even by Pittsburgh standards. We had 60 degree temperatures in January (and I wasn’t complaining).  We had a stretch of days in March where the temperatures were in the 70’s (and I certainly wasn’t complaining). 

Sometimes the temperatures would drop into the 30’s overnight and soar into the 70’s during the day.  There were days when the sun and the rain took turns coming out, and occasionally overlapped so that it was sunny and rainy simultaneously.  There were many days that I watched the wind blow rain, leaves and other objects sideways past my window at work. One day I swear a small house from Kansas flew by. But I wasn’t complaining.

However, last Sunday, on April 22 (Earth Day, appropriately enough) I heard the weather forecast for the next day.  They were calling for 4 to 6 inches of snow in Western Pennsylvania in LATE April.  Seriously, even after enjoying a mild winter, I never want to see that much snow in late April.  I was in a very, very bad mood even thinking about it.

When the next day came, the westernmost part of the state where I live “dodged the bullet” and didn’t get any snow, but our nearby neighbors just east did get just what they forecast.  I was relieved and grateful for us, and sorry for them.

Some people complained that there wasn’t snow because they were eagerly anticipating a big snowstorm in April.  Others complained about the weather forecast being wrong.  But not me.

Reporting from Steeler Country

Now the Royal Wedding is just a happy memory, and Bin Laden is a bitter one. The Rapture scare is over, and seemingly we are all still here.  Finally, the local media can get back to the topic we really care about here in Pittsburgh.
In case you haven’t heard, the Pittsburgh Steelers went to the Super Bowl last season. If you are unaware of this, you obviously do not live in Western Pennsylvania.

It wasn’t an easy season for our Steelers. With Ben Roethlisberger forced to sit out the first four games of the season as a NFL-sanctioned punishment for alleged misbehavior off the field, and injuries to some key players including Troy Polamalu, no one would have been surprised if the Steelers didn’t even make it to the playoffs. But make it they did, and while it wasn’t always pretty, they WON those games! And off they went to their 8th Super Bowl, playing for their 7th win.

I knew all this despite the fact that I didn’t tune into a Steelers game until the second half of the first playoff game. How did I keep so well informed, you ask? I live in the greater metropolitan Pittsburgh region, aka “Steeler Country,” where news of the Steelers trump severe weather warnings (Pittsburgh’s second favorite news topic), savage assassination attempts, natural disasters, political elections, and just about everything else on local newscasts.

The Internet has revolutionized the way I don’t watch football – I can keep up with the game without ever turning on the TV, or while enjoying the figure skating being broadcast on another channel, or even while picking up my weekly groceries when the supermarket is empty because everyone else is home watching the game.

Of course, I couldn’t grow up in Pittsburgh completely untouched by the Fever. Back in the 70’s and 80’s when the Steelers first started winning Super Bowls, I watched religiously. I’ve seen The Chief three times. This one-man show about Art Rooney by Rob Zellers and Gene Collier was produced and performed several times at Pittsburgh Public Theater. I still get chills watching the footage of the “Immaculate Reception,” almost as exciting as when I watched it live.

I can barely bring myself to say this, but, our beloved Steelers did not win the Super Bowl this past February. I can’t remember who won, but it really doesn’t matter, now does it? Football in Pittsburgh is all about the Steelers.

A pallor fell over our local newscasts. Without the Super Bowl to cover, they were forced to go back to covering car accidents and homicides. No one was happy about it. Then we heard the news. Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward would be competing on Dancing with the Stars!

Oh happy day! There was rejoicing all over the Steel Valley! A Steeler would be competing for a prize once again. Hines explained that he was doing DWTS as a chance for redemption – if he couldn’t bring home the Lombardi Trophy he would bring home the Mirror Ball Trophy to Pittsburgh.

Hines and professional dance partner Kym Johnson have proven worthy of the attention, which has been excessive, of course. Hines has turned out to be likable, and a pretty fine dancer, with his fans in the audience waving their Terrible Towels after every dance.

Then Kym suffered a horrific and potentially dangerous neck injury in rehearsal, right before the semi-finals. As they were wheeling her out on a stretcher, Kym was worried about Hines missing rehearsal time, but Hines was sincerely just worried about Kym and her well-being. Kym rallied, and came back to dance on the next show. Hines broke down in tears after successfully completing the dance. OMG, Hines proved he was a sensitive guy and a gentleman, in addition to having a great smile and killer moves on the dance floor.

Now the day has come - the finals of Dancing with the Stars. Tonight, the citizens of Steelers Nation will again be perched on the edge of our seats- Terrible Towels and voting devices in hand – waiting for our Steeler to take it all, for the glory of Pittsburgh.

Gee! 20 Reasons to Avoid the G-20 Summit

Pittsburgh is a fine city – a great place to live and work. Most of us who grew up in Pittsburgh or have chosen it as our home realize this. We are also pretty sure that no one else knows how special it is here- that no one appreciates us, as it were. We swell with pride when some magazine deems our city a nice place to live, and celebrate our native sons and daughters who make it big. When some actress filming a movie here says something bad about Pittsburgh, we are outraged and defensive, perhaps wondering why we have to prove ourselves yet again.

So, I can imagine the excitement of our city officials when approached about hosting the G-20 Summit this September. They must have been over the moon at the thought of the President and leaders from around the world coming here- finally, the world would see how great Pittsburgh is! “Pittsburgh Welcomes the World!” is the Summit slogan being touted by the local news media.

My first thought was that this would be a great opportunity for the city. My second thought was- wait a minute, they’re going to be meeting downtown, at the Convention Center? Like any jaded Downtown worker, I dread all events that take place downtown on a weekday. It doesn’t it really matter what it is. A Steeler or Penguin victory parade, Light Up Night, a movie being filmed in Market Square, a Pirate game. They all just tie up traffic, make finding a parking spot more difficult, and add to the daily aggravation.

Still, I thought, this was something special. It would be exciting and kind of fun, like when “Kill Point” was filming a couple of blocks away from my office. Even I showed up when Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill spoke at Market Square during the primaries- I usually hole up in my office when there’s too much excitement going on in the streets. I appreciated that we average worker bees would not be able to get anywhere near the dignitaries. It would still be nice to part of the excitement.

Little did I know the extent of the security being put into place for the G-20 Summit. Pittsburgh may be welcoming the world, but in the process they are shunning those of us who live and work here. The details are sketchy and sporadic, presumably because the Secret Service likes to keep their plans, you know, secret.

We’ve heard all kinds of things, but the information can and does change at any time. First we heard that several blocks around the convention center would be shut off to both vehicular and foot traffic, but now they say it will be a smaller area and only vehicles will be prohibited. Pedestrians will be allowed in but will have to pass through security checkpoints, and no one will be allowed to bring weapons or explosives into the restricted area. This is certainly an excellent idea, one I applaud. However, does this mean they will be able to carry their weapons or explosives back into the rest of the city? Could they at least confiscate the explosives? Just a thought.

Even if you don’t need to go to the immediate area around the convention center, getting to and from work will still be problematic. There are already several streets Downtown closed for construction. Reportedly the T will not be coming into town, nor will most of the buses. Oh, and the Pittsburgh Parking Authority will allegedly be closing its garages downtown. So, essentially if you can park across a bridge and walk into town, you might be okay. Mail delivery in the city will be restricted for the duration of the event, and no packages will be delivered during that time.

The protesters are a lot harder to control, unfortunately. They’re coming from all over the place, and demanding their rights to assemble, and they want to pitch tents in Point State Park. There are rumors that some of these protesters have “targeted” some local companies. As we just passed the 8th anniversary of 9/11, one can only ponder what that could possibly mean.

All these factors are succeeding in scaring everyday Pittsburgh citizens away from our workplaces in the city. Many of us are staying home for two or three days while the Summit inhabits the city. We are working from home, or taking vacation time, and some have decided that this might just be the perfect time to leave town.

I feel like a parent being forced to leave town for the weekend while the teenagers are home alone. You just hold your breath and hope that if the party gets too wild that they clean up after themselves and you find the place in one piece when you get back.