Trip #41 Orion Way, Upper Hill, Pittsburgh took place on September 24, 2017, and was published on October 6, 2017.
Breathless. Catch my breath. Out of breath. Take my breath away. The exertion is real and strong, and the effort halts the easy rhythm. Gasping and panting I suddenly become aware of the automatic, involuntary thing called breathing. Right now, after a quick-paced 126 stairs up and 126 stairs down, I’m thinking about my breathing. You could even say, as I sit on the bottom step, wiping sweat from my brow, that I’m “watching the breath.”
~
At first, it’s moving fast; I can’t corral it. But with each passing cycle, it becomes easier to feel the edges, to shape the flow and move it throughout my body. On the exhale I become small, quiet, moving closer to the earth. On the inhale I grow, become light, lifting up to the sky.
~
I turn and look at the upwards sweeping line of the stairs. There is a majesty I did not notice before. I fill my lungs again and lift up, up, up, all the way to Orion.
Field Notes: This flight has really been cleaned up in the past few years – stairway clear of knotweed, the old abandoned house on Monroe with the hole in the roof has been demolished and the street is clean (lots of gardening activity happening). A beautiful morning!
Want to visit these stairs? You can locate them on the Pittsburgh City Steps Plan website!
See the Risograph print of this photo and story in the Mis.Steps Shop.
Be a good neighbor! Have you visited these stairs and found them in poor condition or that illegal dumping (large items like tires, old furniture, and construction debris) and trash were abundant in the area? There are two things you can do to take action and make our city steps cleaner and safer for everyone! First, grab a photo if you can, and submit a report to Pittsburgh 311. All problems, both broken stairs, and railings, as well as trash and dumping, should be reported to the city. You can easily do this online or by calling. If the location has an abundance of illegal dumping and trash, also contact Allegheny Cleanways, letting them know the location and the nature of the garbage. Thank you!!
