Trip #474 Paranassus Way to Comstock Way, Elliott, Pittsburgh took place on August 2, 2020, and was published on August 10, 2020.
When I was a kid, I had a habit of sleepwalking. As the bedroom I shared with my younger sister was on the second floor at the top of the stairs, my parents installed a safety gate. But whatever it was that was bothering my developing brain still prompted me to unconsciously leave the bed, unlatch the gate and walk downstairs to the family room, where my parents would be watching TV. While they may have thought it was a ploy to see some of the “grown-up” shows forbidden to us kids, it honestly wasn’t – at least not from what I can recall. And while I no longer walk in my sleep, I’m sometimes abruptly awakened from a state of blatant inattentiveness, like in the case of this Polaroid. I was so interested in the wooden fence and yucca plants growing alongside the sidewalk steps that I didn’t even notice the pile of rusty curtain rods littering the concrete. It took a photo to illustrate what was lurking in the shadow and bring my own conscious sleepwalking to light.
Field Notes: A spread-out sidewalk flight that is a bit buried in spots. This section ran alongside a nice looking wooden fence (which unfortunately had some trash/litter nearby.
See the Risograph print of this photo and story in the Mis.Steps Shop.
Want to visit these stairs? You can locate them on the Pittsburgh City Steps Plan website!
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.
