Due to the following:
...COLD WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST SUNDAY...* WHAT...Very cold wind chills as low as 15 below zero.
We are in search of surfaces conducive to running and walking, and Oakland seems to have employed the best snow removal equipment. And we want to scope out the new La Prima, at Fifth and Halket, so we'll start there.
Where did we go last week? All around Rockwell Park, and whatever goes on there is a mystery. But thumbs up for Commonplace, which seems to have found the magic coffee/treats/aura formula - just get there early enough to bag a table. We love:
Resistance action of the week: You can join fellow ICE OUT demonstrators at 2 p.m. on Sunday, where the Hot Metal Bridge meets Three Rivers Heritage Trail. And if you're a fast knitter and can snag some rapidly disappearing red yarn, you can wear your Melt the Ice Hat.
Accuweather predicts an actual temperature of -1° on Sunday morning, and chunks of snow will still be making running problematic, so we have options. The bravehearts who own Arctic gear can start at 7 and stomp around until 8, and the rest of us can get there however at 8 and start drinking. (Coffee, unless someone brings a flask). Anyway, hope to see you there!
Last week, same story, and 4 of us who were, admittedly, not that far away from 61C, made it on foot by 8, and were grateful to Keith and co. for being there.
Last week, our plan was to meet at The Speckled Egg in Southside Works. The lights were on at 7 AM and the kind fledglings even opened up the restaurant so RGers could use the bathroom. But am I right to say when we returned post run/walk it was to Commonplace Coffee next door and not the Speckled Egg?
I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong. Whichever establishment it was, we again had a long table with plenty of seats and lots of eats.
From the Department of “I Don’t Know How She Does It?” we learned how Lainy managed to make lentil soup and matzoh ball soup and bread for her annual neighborhood soup party.
First: The New York Times “No Knead Bread” recipe. Also its Chicken and Chickpea Tray Bake.
Endorsed with great enthusiasm:
.jpg)
We met at Biddle’s Escape in what looked like the dark of night.
Post run/walk we waited for coffee and took in the diverse array of stuff, some for sale: You could pick up some balled twine with your coffee, or a couple of tiny plastic animals. Whatever: the long table was free and we got down to serious and unserious business.
Joanne celebrated her retirement by getting a manicure at Lotus, on Ellsworth Ave, which is not the RG nail salon -- that honor goes to Pearl Nails on Murray Avenue -- but worth a mention.
Then she went home and designed her first ever protest sign: NO ICE BURGH.
By Spring, no newspapers either. What will we do?
We could try aromatherapy.
Or buy Dubai chocolate – the best price is at Marshalls. Maybe someone can say why it’s so special.
Resistance action of the week: Pull funding from ICE/CBP. Please call soon - the vote on DHS funding is happening shortly:
Tell them to vote NO on any upcoming funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security that doesn't have strong restrictions on ICE's brutal immigration enforcement. More info here.
We'll be meeting again at Biddle's, the old favorite, except for the pastries, hope you can get some first at Madeleine's.
Last week we found new sights in in off-the-beaten-track Swissvale, and its further-off sister, Swisshelm Park (long ago home of Wendy and Beth). We saw spectacular views of the Mon Valley and also discovered a brand new trail leading to our friends at Slagforce. At the charmant cafe Parisi (actually Italian), many, many things to consider:
Resistance action of the week: Call/email Fetterman, McCormick, and Lee relentlessly to tell them to stop the Venezuelan invasion and planned others. Ask the Senators to vote yes on a Senate resolution coming very soon to block the president from taking further actions in Venezuela.
Sunday we'll swing around Swissvale, but tomorrow (sorry, this is a bit late 😬) is the annual New Year's Day holiday run starting at 61C at the late hour of 7:30.
Last week we also had a twofer, on Christmas Day, touring the familiar grace of Chatham campus and surrounding mansions, redolent of the 1%, and then on Sunday, into the strange depths of Lower Bloomfield where apparently there are hobbits (photos below).
Much talk ensued of course, only some of which will appear here.
