Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Surprising Pittsburgh

I had the good fortune recently to have my employer send me to Pittsburgh for some training. I don't know what I expected, but I must say I've been pleasantly surprised. The weather in mid-August has been wonderful. Downtown where the class is and where I'm staying is clean. People mill around like they're enjoying themselves and I've felt completely at ease walking around. As an amateur photographer, I carried my digital camera along and took a few pictures.

Here's a picture of a tour boat making its way upstream at the mouth of the Allegheny River where it joins the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River. Just to the right and out of the picture is Heinz Stadium where the Pittsburgh Steelers play. The Dequesne Incline goes up the cliff along the opposite riverbank.


A view up the Allegheny River showing some of the many bridges of Pittsburgh as seen from Point State Park. You can see the lights of PNC Park where the Pittsburgh Pirates play home games.

The fountain at Point State Park and a view of downtown. I was staying at the Hilton just left of center.


Park benches along the Allegheny at Point State Park.


I got up and went walking before class in the mornings and caught this shot of a barge entering the Monongahela River from the Ohio River. This shot reminded me of my hometown of Memphis.
The view up the Monongahela River from the break room where I was taking my class.


Sunrise over Pittsburg from near the base of the Duquesne Incline.
Looking down the Duquesne Incline
The confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela Rivers at Pittsburgh as seen from the top of the Duquesne Incline, over 400 vertical feet above the river.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Backyard Butterflies

Here are some shots I took in the backyard. Butterflies are harder to catch in a good picture than I expected. About the time I would get a good shot framed they would fly to another flower.




Why You Shouldn't Plant Bradford Pears

Here are a few photographs of storm damage in my yard to discourage anybody who might be considering planting some Bradford Pear trees. The damage below happened about 3 weeks ago during some high, straight-line winds associated with a thunderstorm which occurred after a long dry spell.