Quite a lot of this blog has been about my writing. I thought I’d share some things about the place in which I live.

Right now, Pittsburgh is still in the grips of winter. But when it’s not rain/sleet/snowing out, one of the things I like to do is sneak out of work for a lunchtime walk. I’m lucky enough to work close to downtown Pittsburgh in an area called the Strip District. That’s a descriptive tag… the neighborhood is a thin strip of flood plain between the Allegheny River and a pretty large cliff called Grant’s Hill.

It’s home to a lot of wholesale, produce, ethnic, meat, and fish markets. If you can eat or drink it, the Strip probably has it. There’s also a ton of restaurants and the Western Pennsylvania Regional History Museum, and a number of businesses.

There’s also a walking trail that runs along the river. Sometimes I walk down into the Strip, other times, I walk up along the river. Pittsburgh’s an interesting place to live and work because there’s so much green space, even close to downtown.

Here’s a photo looking down into the city from where I work:

Here’s a shot of the river. Different time of day, but this view is only 90 degrees from the other one (you can see the other end of the train bridge):

If I walk down into the city, then cross a bridge, this is what it looks like:

And if I walk further down the river, and stand in the middle of the river on a bridge, this is what the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela look like. This is the head of the Ohio River. You can also see one of the two inclines of Pittsburgh. They’re part of the public transit system to take folks up and down Mount Washington, which is the cliff across the river.

This is why I find Pittsburgh so magical. You have hills and rivers and trees and boats and cars and wildlife all butted up against one another.

Any yes, I do intend to set a book of three here in this city of steel and water and life. It’s my hometown, and I love it.