Happy Halloween!!

Halloween at CHP

Hospital staff tries to keep things as normal as possible for kids and their families during their stay.  Nurses have been wearing Halloween scrubs for a couple of weeks, decorations have decorated hallways and there is a great pumpkin display in the cafeteria.

What could be more festive than an Adams Family made from gourds?

Maybe this Yoda pumpkin?  I can almost hear him saying, "Have a Happy Halloween, you will."

 

My favorite was Anger, and the other characters, from Inside Out.

Nerd Alert

When you were younger, your parents probably told you not to play with your food.  Later when in the science lab you were probably told not to play with the test tubes, bunsen burner or skeleton.  Last week the American Society for Microbiology held their first agar art contest.  Agar, a jelly like substance comes from the supporting structure of algae cell walls.  While the substance can be used cooking (think vegetarian substitute for gelatin), microbiologists use it to grow cultures.  Scientists from all the country submitted various pieces of art made from yeast, proteins and bacteria. 

"Starry Night"

By Melanie Sullivan

"Yeast go viral" 

By Paul Rowley

PGH Walkabout with Dan

Dan finally headed west and as I had to work all weekend, we tried to pack in as much as possible today.  First stop was Oakland ... get a big bang for our buck.  After an obligatory stop for coffee and pumpkin donuts we headed over to Pitt's Campus. 

If you look closely you can see Dan poking out from behind Dippy's leg (the only proof I have that he was here for the weekend). 

The first official stop of the morning was the Cathedral of Learning. This building is not only the easiest part of Pitt's campus to notice, but is also on the National Register of Historic Places.  Built in 1926, it is the tallest educational building in the Western hemisphere and the second tallest university building in the world.

While the building is primarily used for classroom and administrative space, it also contains the 29 Nationality Rooms.  The rooms are used as classrooms on a daily basis, but are also part of a larger intercultural exchange program.  Throughout the year different lectures and seminars are held in relation to the room they represent.  Because Friday classes were in session, we probably saw about half the rooms including the Ukrainian room below. 

If you take the elevator to the top (well to the 40th floor) you are graced with some awesome views of the city.  Here we have Schenley Park and the Botanical Gardens (something we checked out later in the afternoon).

A few windows over you have a view of Oakland all the way to East Liberty.  Things are obviously much easier to point out in person, but you can you can even see my neighborhood in the distance.  

After covering most of what we could in the Cathedral, we poked out heads into the Heinz Chapel (a gift from Henry John Heinz and a nondenominational chapel on Pitt's campus) before crossing the street to have lunch at the Conflict Kitchen. 

The rest of the afternoon was a complete blur and included getting lost in the bowels of Carnegie Mellon University, seeing a Chihuly original in the Botanical Gardens and peering over the dinosaur exhibit from the Carnegie Library.  After 13,000 steps, the tired couple headed off in search of local brews and some dinner.

Apple Picking!!

After a string of night shits, I dug out some sunglasses and headed over to Soergel Orchards to pick some apples with Jessie and Dave.  After a fairly quick trip down the line of mini trees we had two very full bags. 

When we got home, Jessie set to work on making an apple crumble.  After seeing many posts and videos about peeling apples with a power drill, I figured we should give it a shot.  It is definitely harder than it looks, but after some trial and error we found it best to use a paddle drill and to peel a small bit by hand before using the drill.

The next fall project will be turning 10 pounds of apples into apple sauce and other delicious fall treats (this is only a fraction of the apples I brought home)

Point State Park Walkabout

Slowly but surely fall is arriving to Pittsburgh.  While the leaves are starting to turn colors and there are pumpkin flavored treats everywhere, the afternoons are still warm enough for you to walk around in shorts and a t-shirt.  Today I decided to head out and explore Point State Park.  While I have biked around this small park within the city limits, I have yet to visit the Fort Pitt Block House.

The Fort Pitt Block House is the oldest authenticated structure in Pittsburgh at 251 years old.  This redoubt (a fancy word for a building outside a larger force used for protection) is all that remains of Fort Pitt.  Two years after the Revolutionary War ended, Fort Pitt was destroyed, but the Block House was spared as someone was living in the structure.  In 1894, the building was given to the Daughters of the American Revolution to be preserved.  Today it is recognized by the National Register of Historic Places.

The iconic fountain, located at the end of the point, is where Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers come together to form the Ohio; the area is also referred to as the Forks of the Ohio.  After four years of upgrades, the fountain repoened in 2013.  Fun fact: the water in the fountain comes from an aquifer which runs under the park.

I headed back through the park, tootled around downtown and then to the Three Rivers Heritage Trail.  

Look at those Sister Bridges! 

150 volunteers worked with local artist Kim Beck to complete the 900-foot long mural along the Three Rivers Heritage Trail.  According to Beck's website:

"The weed silhouettes were inspired by weeds growing along the riverfront, and the title was inspired by a journal entry by Henry David Thoreau:  'There they stood in the midst of the open river on this shallow and weedy bar in the sun the leisurely sentries lazily pluming themselves as if the day were too long for them. They gave a new character to the stream. Adjutant they were to my idea of the river, these two winged men.'"

Back through Point State Park and over the Ft. Duquesne Bridge to where I parked my car.
All in all, it was a very successful five mile walkabout. 

I will definitely be back in a week or two to check out the changing leaves!