Jan. 3 plus New Year's Day Run/Walk: Sunday: zoom at 8 am; Friday at 7:30 meet outside Squirrel Hill Starbucks and brave the elements

Next runs/walks will take place in 2021 - Hallelujah!! 

Traditional New Year's Day Holiday Run/Walk will start at 7:30 am at Starbucks in Squirrel Hill, head over to the Cemmie (aka Homewood Cemetery), and return to sit outside safely wherever we can.  

Sunday will be Your Choice at 7, zoom at 8 - here's the link: https://pitt.zoom.us/j/97642356094?from=addon

Nothing else to say except TWO WEEKS worth of endorsements from lots of zooming:

• Watching:
• Let Them All Talk (Meryl Streep, Candice Bergen and Dianne Wiest stuck on a boat)
• The Prom
• Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, plus interview with Viola Davis
• Bridgerton (Jane Austen with sex)
• Get On Up (James Brown biopic - best seen directly after the Jane Austen)
• The Comey Rule
• Giving Voice (August Wilson Monologue competition)
• Handmaid's Tale, SNLversion
• Eating:
• The original Moosewood cookbook - and the Silver Palate's famous wild rice dish.
• Cooking holiday meals for your kids to pick up: "I felt like I was running a take-out."
• You can make cake flour by adding cornstarch to regular flour, and oat flour from pulverizing oats
• The disassociated world of Jewish cooking:  A Russian Jew Cooks in Peru, The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York.
• Outdoors:
• Beavers have been sighted at 9 mile run (check Next Door.)  Also foxes.
• The Nine Mile Run Watershed Association
• Iron Gate Trail in Frick Park (look out!) or Lowrie's Run Trail in the North Hills
• Cross country skiing on Schenley golf course, also North Park, and somewhere near McKnight Elementary school
• Other:
• Carnegie Library has curbside pickup and book return
• Cashmere muffs. Mink hats. Little lace caps for church. But Vatican II - it changed everything!
• An Advent Calendar for counting days to Jan. 20.
• Tracking packages - shop app will do it but looks too complicated to me
• The late lamented Pussycat
• Target Epiphany - they actually do have everything, and they will bring it out to your car in the parking garage.
• Bernedoodles

Dec. 27 Run/Walk: Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide (thank you Martha) - but let's zoom and talk about it at 8 am

As 2020 FINALLY wraps up, time has become meaningless - that's my excuse.  But let's zoom in and talk about it on Sunday. Hopefully Lainy will read this and agree to let us in.

Link to join is:  https://pitt.zoom.us/j/97642356094?from=addon

Hope to see you all!

P.S. Virginia has created the perfect metaphor in her backyard: 

Dec. 20 Run/Walk: we are still in the COVID universe, so go anywhere and then zoom together at 8

Despite the blessed first appearance of vaccines, we still have a long way to go in the Covidverse, so let's all be safe, maybe jump up and down a few times at 7:45, and then come together to zoomingly kibitz at 8.  Here's the link, thanks to Lainy (same one as last week):  

https://pitt.zoom.us/j/97642356094?from=addon

Still waiting for those expats!

Because I have waited so long (Is it Friday already???) and there is a long list of endorsements from our last rendezvous, I'll just list them and forget the clever repartee.

• Harvie Farms CSA  (this looked so good I signed up after I found the link) 
  
  
  
• Bananas and their history podcast - which brought us to Bananas, the movie.  Woody Allen is awful, but can we go back just sometimes to the innocent days?  Also, Banana Republic, also not acceptable!  But maybe the clothes were OK?
• Bad inflatables (see photo)
• the Hip Hop Nutcracker
• The Crown - and all the things that aren't true in it
• Watch:  Movies with Helena Bonham Carter:  The King's Speech, Harry Potter, Les Mis, Room with a View
• Doulas - where were they in 1982?
• Rachel Carson Trail
• the Nine Allegheny County Parks - esp. Harrison Hills
• Vaccines again!  Dr. Pam will be the first of us to get one.  Dr. Sharon says there are at least 6 major ones and we will need them all.
• Firepits - wood? propane?
• Kamala and Fauci mugs available at Center for Contemporary Craft
• Sending postcards to Georgia voters
• Costco - everything but esp. the website where you can make photo gifts
• Sockclub.com subscription
• Xmas tree delivery from Shadyside Nursery
• The time for cashmere mittens is back!

Dec. 13 Run/Walk/Whatever: Back to COVID schedule - find some way to exercise and then meet up on Zoom at 8

On Sunday, you can take a run, do jumping jacks, practice breathing - and then find us on Zoom - here's the link, courtesy of Lainy:

https://pitt.zoom.us/j/97642356094?from=addon

One advantage of Zoom - you can join from Boston, or anywhere.  Hey, expats!

Last week was the same - and I was late so have no information on where anyone went. The convo was intense:  we shared some quarantine experiences - really no fun.  In terms of stress and fear, as the (real) Queen famously said in the 90's, we are having an Annus Horribilis.  But we have each other!

Related endorsements:

• Finding testing - complicated!  I know someone who has been several times to the Squirrel Hill Health Center clinic and says its pretty easy and you can go without a reservation (you can register on your phone when in line.)  A lot of people go to McKeesport.  Curative.com is good for registering ahead of time.  
• Find where you stand in the line for vaccines - from the NYT

Lighter topics:

• Curlers!  Used to great effect by Kamala, and Wendy.  Also, memories of orange-juice-can rollers - for those of us who can recall what orange juice cans were - but now much improved.  
• Pond's Face Cream - used by Elizabeth Warren, also to great effect.  Yay! for women who have the courage to talk about life's vital details.
• the BBQ Beer guy - characterizing at least one common feature of the election season - and also the profound cool of election officials.
• Get food in peace and quiet at the Bryant Street Market in Highland Park
• Lettuce (and other fresh things) delivered from Fifth Season
• Trader Joe's at 8 am - get in and out quickly - clean and efficient
• Read:  Ta-Nehisi Coates Between the World and Me and anything else.
• Watch: The Tunnel
• No photos, so...

Dec. 6 Run/Walk: NEW PLAN: everyone do your own thing and then we meet online at 8 - zoom link below

NEWS FLASH: 

A few RG members are quarantining (though all are OK!) - and because we want to take all precautions right now, for tomorrow and beyond, we're going to go back to our COVID origins and do our runs/walks solo at 7 and then meet for a group zoom at 8. 

A sad time but we have each other!  And.... a new president to look forward to!

We'll discuss - 

Lainy set up the meeting and here is the link:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://pitt.zoom.us/j/97642356094?from=addon

See you there!

Prudently but looking ahead,

Roye

PREVIOUSLY:

We're returning to the yard outside Waterfront Starbucks - perhaps we're stalking the Lt. Gov. (whose van was sighted!) but it's also pretty handy re sunny space, nearby coffee, and the pièce de résistance, a perfect bathroom.  Do bring a chair (though some were there) and a blanket.  Last Sunday walkers took the trail by the river, and runners discovered a staircase into Hays Woods.  

• 
  WindStax (photo at right) - witnessed near the labyrinth - what is it?  A vertical wind turbine!  (from a Pittsburgh company)
• the Mediterranean Grill, still available for takeout: Moussaka and the Creamy Garlic Dressing.  Missing the belly dancers though.
• What to get for presents?  a socks subscription!  Shop at Black-owned businesses! The Handmade Arcade, now virtual!
• And here is a shameless promotion of my advice-columnist daughter's article with 79 sustainable gifts.
• Three of us know how to pose for photos (hint: bent knees, below)
• The magnificently eerie Carrie Furnace (also below)
• The Great British Baking Show (often endorsed) is melting!
  
• Watch:  Rick Steve's Europe, Season 2, The Alps
• When your phone battery lasts for 8 days, it's Phonakkah.

Nov. 29 Run/Walk: meet outside the Waterfront Starbucks --- and Thanksgiving Holiday run (tomorrow at 7:30 am) at the 61C Cafe in Squirrel Hill

Getting this out in the nick of time to remind everyone of the Annual Thanksgiving Holiday Run tomorrow at 7:30 am at the 61C Cafe on Murray in Squirrel Hill.

And in plenty of time (for once) for the Sunday run - which will return to the Waterfront Starbucks at 7 am as usual, with hopes for a sighting of our friend the Lt. Governor, who is now world famous, and his family.  Though it's unlikely they are spending the morning outside on a gloomy November morning.  Unlike us!  Bringing a chair would be a good idea.

Last Sunday walkers and runners headed off in opposite directions, to ascend to the picturesque heights of Herron Hill Park and The Shrine of the Blessed Mother, respectively (views below.)  Then we availed ourselves of the unlikely open space in front of Fuel & Fuddle smack in the middle of Oakland to eat Munchkins and schmooze awhile.  

Vaccines!  Dr. Sharon, infectious disease specialist and bringer of hope, telling us that the report on vaccines is Great News, "the antibody to spike protein is protective!" (I hope I got that right.)  As promised, she answered a million questions.

Also endorsed:

• Steri-strips, or as CVS calls them, Wound Closure Strips (thanks Wendy!) for those who, like me, cannot be near a knife without slicing fingers. 
• Dolly Parton's new Christmas album, her help in bringing on those vaccines, and just being herself!
• Live captioning on Zoom through Microsoft Office (not sure how this works, ask Lainy)
• COVID Alert PA - app which alerts you when you are exposed to the virus - yikes!
• Do you want to be in the vaccine clinical trial?  Register here (more information here.)

Nov. 22 Run/Walk: Meet at Oakland Ave. between Sennot and Forbes - bring a chair!

We'll convene in Oakland in front of the mysteriously named Fuel and Fuddle (212 Oakland) which I can't help but notice is cheerily open indoors, luring undergrads in the midst of our plague emergency. But we'll be outdoors, so bring your chair.  This is getting exhausting. 

Last Sunday walkers enjoyed the Chatham campus and surrounding mansions - including one Modernist glass house buried in leaves with a long view to the chapel tower - though we were not exactly invited over.  Perfect post-exercise confab at Wendy's: here we are toasting our hero Joanne after she answered our million questions about electoral news and ballot counting under the eye of 39 surveillance cameras.

Also endorsed:

• The Girl Scouts - made Joanne who she is today
• Vertical farming in Braddock
• Kamala Harris in curlers
• Watch: Cory Booker's mayoral race documentary "Street Fight"
• Bidenfreude
• Governors
• Vaccines! Sharon, we have another million questions for you.

Nov 15 Run/Walk: Meet at Wendy's House, corner of Wilkins and Beechwood (park on Beechwood.)

Wendy has invited us to meet before and afterwards in her back yard, 6425 Wilkins - delightful!!  And, across the street from 5 Points!  Bring chairs just in case.  Many routes possible - we'll go with the most inventive.  Or the fewest hills.

Last week was characteristically November-y in Frick Park, some yellow leaves still hanging on, lots of crunchy ones underfoot.  Goats are still under contract.  What would we do without the Pittsburgh Parks?  And then it was a treat to gather everyone outside in the backyard after a week of nail-biting, breath-holding, and ultimately cathartically, joyfully exhaling.  Can we please return to no-drama?  Answer: we now have hope.

Here are some tidbits:

• Joanne!  We are thinking of you but you probably have NO TIME to read this email - still please take care and then take the best vacation ever!! 
• Related:  "How Allegheny County delivered PA to Biden"
• Watch:  Recount (the hanging chads of 2000), Class Action Park (documentary about the theme park you never want to go to), The Queen's Gambit on Netflix, and especially Emily in Paris, that has just been renewed for another season!
• Our friend John Fetterman is a star:  Gov. Wolf buys him a tie; he has a new nickname, and his tweets are awesome.
• The Four Seasons Total Landscaping story - 
• La Fermiere Yogurt - available at the East End Food Coop - comes in adorable blue ceramic cups
• Leaves - we love them!  Leaf blowers - we hate them!
• Interview with Evan Osnos of the New Yorker about Joe Biden's enlightening history
• Recipe for Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts that can also be Munchkins.  Secret: melted butter/cinnamon sugar finish.

Nov. 8 Run: Meet at the entrance to Frick Park, S. Homewood and Reynolds in Pt. Breeze.

On Sunday we will watch the last of the leaves float down in ravishing autumnal Frick Park, meeting at the entrance at Reynolds and S. Homewood.  Afterwards, all are invited to hang out in my leaf-strewn and messy backyard (305 S. Lang Ave.)  Coffee and baked treats will be provided and we will hope that the cursed leaf-blowers will hold off until 10.  Also, a bathroom!  I have some chairs and if some of you bring them too we'll be fine.

First of all, we are all sending our ❤️❤️❤️love❤️❤️❤️ to Joanne! who at this very moment is handling the vote count in Allegheny County, in a situation more challenging than I can even imagine. Here she is explaining the most important thing in the world right now.  

Last week we had numerous walkers traversing Frick Park and visiting the goats and Hobo the Donkey who are residing there.  Numerous runners, on the other hand, checked out what's happening in Wilkinsburg.  Madeleine's was a lovely place to kibitz, but such a long line! I think there were lots of endorsements but I only noted:

    Watch:  Trial of the Chicago Seven, and the new Borat, and Sarah Cooper's Everything's Fine.

In the meantime, as Janet promised, we are living "in the shine of hope."

Nov. 1 Run/Walk: Meet at Madeleine's Bakery 609 S. Trenton in Wilkinsburg

We'll meet at Madeleine's Bakery on Trenton, a block down from Biddle (map) and am so looking forward to those unforgettable and unpronounceable kouign amanns, cold be damned. I've been told that the bakery still has chairs outside, but bring one just in case - and a down comforter wouldn't be a bad idea either.  Hot drinks available both there and at Biddle's a block away.  What more could one want?  Here's what: Aimee is bringing Michael, who will be our tour guide to what's new in Wilkinsburg.

Don't forget - time change at 2 am Sunday - set your clocks back and get another hour of shuteye.

Last week marked a milestone in RG history as walkers were double the number of the runners!  Please let's not dwell on what this implies.  See masked marauders below.  We hit Schenley Park after passing and ruminating on the fate of the Columbus statue, now swathed in filmy white, which may be deliberate.

We settled into our deeper discussions tucked into a nook in Schenley Plaza, well bundled up.  It's time to break out the cashmere!  Some endorsements:

• 
  Bernie in Pittsburgh!
• rotary phones 
• secret paths through Woodland Road and Murray Hill - does anyone know the shortcut to Wilkins?
• Comedian John Mulaney
• Bill Clinton (well, mixed reviews)
• The West Wing, and the West Wing Reunion (sounds sappy but it's great - it's HBO but that link is free.)
• Dunkin' Donuts Munchkins

Oct. 25 Run/Walk: Meet at Schenley Plaza in Oakland

On Sunday we'll meet back at Schenley Plaza in Oakland, under the tent. (map)

I missed last week's run/walk but got a quick summary from Virginia:

From our run in Highland Park on Sunday — we ran/walked thru the park and neighborhood, running thru the storybook street and by the gnome house. We gathered afterward near the fountain but really didn’t talk about any endorsements. 

Hope to see you on Sunday! 

Oct. 18 Run/Walk: meet at the entrance to Highland Park

 As I can't recall where we were planning on going this Sunday, I'll just suggest we meet at the entrance to Highland Park, and bring our coffee and chairs (and blankets?) to sit in the garden later.  Also, see below for special event taking place at 9 if anyone can stay! 

Last week took us to lovely Riverview Park and involved various attempts not to get lost.  There are maze-like paths, and the Google directions to get there are terrifying.  But it has great spot for schmoozing afterwards.  We heard a story combining matchmaking, twins and a colonoscopy.  

Endorsements:

• Wendy is co-teaching a Zumba Superspreader of Positivism event in Highland Park at 9 on Sunday.
• Emily in Paris on Netflix - especially Emily's clothes about which we are withholding judgment.  Also on Netflix:  The Eddy, Cable Girls, Indian Matchmaking.
• Last Man on Earth on Hulu, A French Village on Amazon.
• January Jones on Instagram
• Film:  God's Pocket
• Dropping off mail-in ballots and other ways of voting early in person!  

Oct.11 Run/Walk: Riverview Park - directions in the message

We're exploring Riverview Park on Sunday! 

Thanks to Gretchen, here are directions:  Meet at the end of Riverview Avenue closest to the Observatory. The Visitor Center will be to your right, the Observatory up the hill straight ahead. For GPS, an address that's close to there (not quite to the end of the street) is 66 Riverview Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15214. Note that putting "Riverview Park" into GPS may lead you to another area of the park.

We can run/walk up and around the Observatory and then explore a few of the trails and sights of the park. Here's a link to the park map:  https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/415693/assets/docs/riverview-letter.pdf.  We can bring chairs and coffee and pick a spot to gather as the mood hits us - near the entry, up near the Observatory, at the Chapel Shelter, etc.

Last week we discovered the streamside paths and wildflower-covered world of an abandoned golf club.  (May this be the destiny of several golf clubs I could mention.)  Beth led the group all around Churchill Valley Greenway, part of the Allegheny Land Trust - a complete surprise! As was the appearance of Renee Dolney who is instrumental in the transformation and told us the terrific story, still unfolding.  Thank you Beth!

Our main endorsement - if you weren't there you should see this place.  

But also the lunatics posting polka videos on NextDoor.

Oct. 4 Run/Walk: a Churchill Valley Greenway Adventure!

Next Run/Walk:  courtesy of Beth, a Churchill Valley Greenway Adventure!

On Sunday, October 4, we’ll explore the still accessible and mainly paved trails at the former Churchill Valley Country Club property.  It has been abandoned for about a decade and is now a sea of wildflowers. The Allegheny Land Trust has the property under contract to purchase and protect for $3M with foundation, government, and community support.   https://alleghenylandtrust.org/churchill-valley/

Here are the directions:  If you are coming off the Parkway East from either direction, you will want to turn right onto Beulah Road/Rt 130 and head northeast towards Penn Hills. The former golf course is a minute or two from the Parkway and there is a pull off/parking area to the right along Beulah Rd just before a footbridge overpass. 

Note – if you accidentally end up at the Edgewood Country Club you’re at the wrong place!  Call Beth at (412) 216-3369 and we will get you to the right spot.  Bring coffee and chair. Attached is a little map of the area, and Beth will bring a copy for the walker and runner groups.

In addition to the attachment, here's a Google map to the old Churchill Valley Country Club  (Beth, correct me if I'm wrong.)

Last week we had a perfect run/walk/bike. (New feature: one can talk and ride a bike with the runners with no problem!) Joanne led us through previously unseen treasures of Highland Park, and then back to her peaceful cozy backyard, where we not only got some toothsome still warm coffee cake and coffee, but high level expertise on the voting process.  

I took no notes and so all the brilliance of our discussion has fled to the winds, but in the spirit of our electoral whirlwind, we can endorse:

• The political gnome party on the corner of Sheridan and Hampton (photo at bottom)
• Bethany Hallam and like-minded elected officials get creative to spread the word (don't miss this.)

• 
  
  

Sept. 28 Run/Walk: Meet at the entrance to Highland Park - and bring a chair for later

Let's meet before and after at the entrance to Highland Park, and then after the run we can swing by Tazza d'Oro to pick up coffee (their website says they are open.)  But bring a chair - I don't think there are any at the park.  I was told there is a family of gnomes living in someone's garden on Heberton, so we can investigate.  Also, sunrise over the reservoir is always uplifting. Anything to get away from the current situation!

I somehow missed the entire group when I biked down to meet them after the run!  Luckily Aimee took photos that tell the story (see below.)  

Also, just a few endorsements:

• Beth is planning an adventure next Sunday at the Churchill Valley Greenway
• Just found out there is a Havdalah service to honor Ruth Bader Ginsberg outside the corner of Forbes and Murray tomorrow (Sat.) night at 7:45 - thought some might be interested.

Sept. 20 Run/Walk: Meet at Schenley Plaza in Oakland (Repeat of last week)

That's it - we'll meet at the tent at Schenley Plaza in Oakland - not sure why, guess we weren't ready for a new adventure.  We'll use this time to plan one.

Also not much time to report, except a few endorsements:

• http://www.everstrongpgh.com - especially their Mellon Park morning exercise class.
• Visit Chatauqua - hardly anyone there, and still beautiful!

A little under the weather this week, literally - smoke covering the country is too heavy a metaphor.  Bring your best good news on Sunday and we'll spread it around!

Sept. 13 Run/Walk: Meet at Schenley Plaza in Oakland

Aimee and I agree this would be a good place to meet again, so here it is:  the Tent at Schenley Plaza, and possibly a run up to the Reservoir - or maybe if Laurie can come (hint!) she can take us on one of her surprise routes through unexplored territory.  There is coffee nearby this time, and possibly bathrooms!  Bring a chair just in case.

Last week we studied the new Glasshouse apartments at Station Square with a somewhat critical eye.  They did let us lounge on their riverside sofas, but I think that was by mistake.  Runners went off to visit the new Pittsburgh Highline, and walkers the new-ish trail that now completely surrounds downtown right along all three rivers.  Just a few endorsements:

• The close-up view of the stunning Black Lives Matter mural along the Allegheny - detail that you can't see from afar.
• the Highline (OK, can't compare to NYC, but it's ours.)
• Books by Carl Hiaasen - escape from the present into an equally insane world but at least it's funny
• The archaeological discoveries from underneath the Fairmont Hotel that you can see in the lobby. 
• But please not Boca Raton - there are pythons!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Sept. 6 Run/Walk: Meet at Glasshouse apartments, 160 E. Station Square Drive (map in the message)

 Report from Virginia! (Thank you - I sadly missed last week's treat due to forgetting to set my alarm.)

For our run on Sept. 6 (Labor Day weekend) we're planning to meet in front of the Glasshouse apartments to visit the newly opened Highline and also run across the Fort Pitt Bridge and into Point State Park. 

The Glasshouse (map) is the new development right next to the end of the Smithfield Bridge on the South Side, near Station Square. There usually are parallel parking spots along the front of the complex (go over the Smithfield Bridge from Downtown, before then end take a sharp right into Station Square and immediately turn right underneath the bridge into the front of the Glasshouse apts.)

There is a Crazy Mocha in the Bessemer Court at Station Square that is supposed to open at 8 a.m. on Sundays, or just bring your own. 

The run:  Gretchen and Beth led us on a fabulous run through suburban back trails and by Potter's Pond and Pine Creek in McCandless. We enjoyed coffee, Jeff's blueberry muffins and good conversation on Gretchen's back patio. (Thanks, Gretchen!)  The best story of the day was Elaine's harrowing adventure with the rolling crockpot.

The walk: (from Paula): Mary Versa and I had a lovely walk this morning with Wendy, Max and Linda – kind of a ‘new age’ ‘alternate’ walk. [Intriguing - tell us more this Sunday!]

Two endorsements:

• Blueland eco-friendly cleaning products
• The book, "One Thousand White Women"

Masked Marauders

August 30 Run/Walk: North Side discovery! Meet at Gretchen's house 10090 Oakridge Dr., Wexford

Next week's special plan from Beth:  

"Gretchen and I will cohost the run next Sunday, starting from her house at 10090 Oakridge Drive. (map.)We’ll explore a lovely stream side trail in Vestal Park. The walkers can then make their way back to Gretchen’s back patio, and the runners can do the same, or the more ambitious can visit a second nearby park, Potter Park. Or maybe we will go and see the neighbors’ house with the gigantic Steelers emblem on the side."

Last week around Homestead, walkers found some kind of forest patio (see photo - would be great for a coffee hour!) and runners went to investigate possibilities for making a circuit:  Costco parking lot-Glenwood Bridge-Duck Hollow Trail-Homestead Grays Bridge-back to Costco.  Answer: maybe.  We only got partway, but a railroad agent we ran into said it was possible. It's a little grungy on the Homestead side, and would take more than an hour.  A challenge!

Endorsements:

• Chatting with our Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman and also his extraordinary wife Gisele, who remembered RG's visit to their house a long time ago!  (November 8, 2015 to be exact.)
• The word Verblunget.
• Carnegie Library COVID outdoor book delivery and dropoff.  It works!
• Related:  reading in bathtubs.
• Elementary school: film strips, and incidences of escaped bodily fluids, not related.
• How are we going to vote?  So many possibilities and questions and stress!  The group will have a mind meld to determine this soon.  In the meantime, the League of Women Voters has these flyers (1 and 2).
• The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books - remembered fondly but then I read this.
• podcast:  Nice White Parents (some of us were, maybe not so nice?)

August 23 Run: One more time - meet at the Waterfront Starbucks!

What's not to like?  Giant chairs, shade, easy access to coffee and napkins, our Lieutenant Governor and his family, and a pristine bathroom.  So we'll return yet again to the yard of the Waterfront Starbucks, showing that this bizarre time is another episode of Groundhog Day.  We also may resolve once and for all the Glenwood Bridge/Duck Hollow trail access mystery.

Reporting on the last two weeks (photos below), we toured Homestead and its amazing churches, visited the riverside trail where goats are employed in landscaping (no leafblowers!), and crossed the Hi-Level Bridge for a foray into Summerset, Duck Hollow and beyond.  Someday we'll follow that beyond to the Carrie Furnace, per Lainy.  

More election anxiety.  We discussed some more things to do:  

• Join the Pittsburgh League of Women Voters 
• Show up at rallies (i.e. Civil Saturdays org. by Young Black & Educated, this Sat. at 3 at Penn and E. Liberty Blvd, wear purple, Support the Post Office - org. by 14th Ward Indep. Dems. tomorrow at 5 at Squirrel Hill Post Office - bring a sign. 
• Get a Biden sign - contact Gretchen at gjezerc@gmail.com. Then put out an American flag next to it.
• Laura suggests the Order of the Phoenix (request to join the private group)
• Another good list to get on:  Partners for Progress SWPA (they have a letter-writing campaign if you hate making phone calls.)
• If you think of anything else, send it in!

OK - back to needed distractions:

• RG scientists enjoy abbreviating the follow-up of something - FU whenever.
• Going gray, no longer scary.
• Zoom enhancement:  get decent lighting and camera placement. And no unmade beds in the background.
• COVID vaccine trials here are starting this week.  Please let them work.
• Drive-in at the Carrie Furnace - films every weekend, but sign up before they sell out.
• Watch Stateless on Netflix, Offspring (oy vey, again?) on Hulu
• Lainy has a paid opportunity to be on an online stakeholder panel - need to be family member or caregiver of a person in assisted living - email emormer@pitt.edu
• Lieut. Governor John Fetterman is actually in this photo right above Max's blonde head.

August 9 Run: Ditto Last Week: Waterfront Starbucks, bring a chair just in case.

                                                    

     

We'll meet at the Waterfront Starbucks again because the locale was, although admittedly an example of our national consumerist mania, perfect.  There were ample chairs out on the lawn, lots of space, coffee aplenty.  As always, the rain held off.  We had runners and walkers, the lovely refreshing Monongahela alongside, a labyrinth to negotiate, some goats, and the adorable Alex to keep us company.  So... a repeat this Sunday.    

For a long time, RG has officially tried to keep politics more or less at bay, but that ship has sailed. We are now endlessly fretting about what we can do to help end this societal and governmental nightmare.  Resulting endorsements:

• Getting people registered to vote, to request their mail-in ballots, to actually FILL THEM OUT AND SEND THEM IN - if anyone has a good idea on the best way to promote winning this election, email me back and I'll share with the group.  And Joanne - please come and tell us!
• What can you attend or do to elect Democrats and work for justice in general? Send an email to Debra Fyock - debra.fyock@gmail.com - and tell her you want to receive the Indivisible Grassroots Pittsburgh Calendar - for up-to-the-minute listings.
• If you can't remember if you signed up for a mail-in ballot for November, check here.
• Revel in our misery with gut-punching political ads from the Lincoln Project
• How does Elizabeth Warren look so terrific?  I researched:  Skincare; long walks.
• Movie: Idiocracy - not a great film but unbelievably prescient.
• Podcasts:  Nice White Parents - remember standing in line for a Magnet School?  Radiolab piece on 1918 Pandemic, brilliant, unexpected.
• Putting vodka in your pie crust. There are hundreds of recipes, so it must be great.  How about putting vodka in anything - chocolate pudding, banana bread, tacos, salad dressing - it's getting a little desperate out here.
• Because several people asked about The Butterlab last week - there's more on Instagram.
• Check out Mindy Kaling's Never Have I Ever on Netflix. Wendy is obsessed with the main character played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan..

August 2 Run: Meet at the Waterfront, in front of Starbucks

 

In these plague times the weeks seem to be speeding up and I'm getting later and later in getting this out.  Sorry!  I just read that time is "a nonspatial continuum that is measured in terms of events which succeed one another from past through present to future" so hopefully that won't matter too much.

Tomorrow we're going a little farther afield, venturing across a river!  We'll meet at the Starbucks at the Waterfront (map) (the one in the "Town Center" , now that's retail!)  Bring a chair just in case.  The Steel Valley Trail beckons, and Homestead, and the Hays Bald Eagle Cam (have they fled?), and the Great Allegheny Passage, and Duck Hollow, and the Costco parking lot - somebody pick something.

Last week walkers and runners went in different directions, and I'll be damned if can remember where anyone went, but Virginia sent me this image of climbing the new stairs behind the Frick Arts Center, so that must have been part of it.

As we sat peacefully under the trees (except for the ominously frequent Life Flight helicopters) there were tons of endorsements though:

• Becoming a Flight Nurse
• New Balance shoes with The Cushion.
• Circles organization in East Liberty that connects people across socioeconomic lines to make a more equal society.
• Places to go that are not too far:  Deer Valley Family Camp, usually booked forever, has openings now because of COVID, Ditto Chatauqua, and the fabulous Skytop Lodge. 
• Books: A Woman of No Importance, Circe, May the Road Rise Up to Meet You.
• Entertainment value of the comments any time Sen. Toomey posts on FB.
• All the stuff you can pick up on South Oakland streets because the rentals are turning over - example:  a new unopened Amazon kitchen set that someone's Mom clearly thought would be used.
• More details on the story of Gretchen's Dad as a Pitt freshman band member in the 60's on a trip to Jim Crow Louisiana with star linebacker Bobby Grier. This needs to be a movie, but at least on Story Corps.
• Radiolab (always terrific) but especially this one on the Cheerleader and the Mississippi flag.
• Movies:  Spike Lee's Da Five Bloods, Greyhound (Tom Hanks very different from Mr. Rogers in this one.)
• The Butterlab - photos & recipes from culinary heaven (by my son's partner Tamara) 

July 26 Run: Ditto last week: Oakland, Schenley Plaza, meet under the tent.

On Sunday (tomorrow - this is kind of late - shamefaced emoji) we'll repeat last week - meet at the Schenley Plaza tent in Oakland (map), and no need to bring chairs because there are plenty of them!  We also found a cool and breezy spot which has space to spread out and is close to coffee purveyors and also portapotties - what more could one ask for?  Route opportunities: there's up into the Robert E. Williams Memorial Park and reservoir, there's the Shrine of the Blessed Mother, there's down Bates Street to the Hot Metal - or choose your own adventure!

Last week runners explored Italian Oakland and Panther Hollow - presenting the tragic question, how long until we can make the 4627 mile trek to Pizzoferrato? Or the 2 mile trek to the CMU swimming pool?  

OK, let's not dwell on it.  Some endorsements:

• Woodland animals are getting closer.  A bird was using my facemask, hanging on the clothesline, as a hammock.  Every day now is  groundhog day. 
• Local news, especially investigative, is dangerously scarce, but WESA and Public Source are getting better at it.
• The comet - which I missed of course - did anyone see it?  
• Watch Superstore on Hulu, say our Costco fans.  Also, 60 Minutes is still good.

July 19 Run: Destination Oakland! Bring a chair, etc. and we'll meet at the tent at Schenley Plaza

On Sunday we're meeting at Schenley Plaza (map) in Oakland and will spread out according to our new custom, so bring your chairs and desired accoutrements.  The Starbucks on Forbes (but not Fifth) is apparently open.

Report on downtown run last week:

• 
• The sinkhole is indeed filled in!
• Lots of room in Market Square to spread out.  
• Runners visited historic Freedom Corner and St. Benedict the Moor Church
• Walkers crossed bridges and wandered around the Northside.

Endorsements: 

• 9 Cafe at 900 Wood St. Wilkinsburg for takeout
• My Goodness Market in Regent Square
• Oakmont Bakery (but so far!!)
• Prantl's Burnt Almond Torte has a lot of stories about it, and also comes bite-size
• Fries at Hello Bistro

(I see we're getting sick of cooking)

• Dr. Sharon in the news, working to save the world!!
• The Moth on zoom
• Race: The Power of an Illusion documentary - basis of online Race Matters course Gretchen told us about.
• 1619 - New York Times series on reframing US History with the consequences of slavery
• Watch:  Hidden Figures, Homeland
• The Armstrong Trail
• "Any run not near my house"

July 12 Run: Downtown! Meet at the PPG Fountain and bring a chair.

It's been so long since we've been downtown!  March 1 - a million years ago!  We'll see if that sinkhole has been filled up.  We'll start and end at the PPG fountain (map) with all our COVID protections now, including BYO chairs which we can set the prescribed distance apart and our own bottled drinks and snacks and masks - it's another world.  Added attraction:  Aimee informs us that the downtown farmer's market will open at 9 near the convention center at 11th St. and Waterfront place (map.) 

Last week we had our forest experience in Frick Park (have we ever been grateful enough for this place?) and settled down in my backyard for more distanced sharing. Unfortunately, our Yankee Squirrel Flipper was not operational during that time.

Endorsed:

• The Town of Volant and its wine slushies (really, wine slushies anywhere)
• Book:  Rails-Trails Pennsylvania - and trails therein:  Armstrong Trail and Butler Freeport
• The Chicken Flipper  (not to be confused with the Squirrel Flipper) - Joanne says it makes the best chicken ever.
• RG member Sandy, back for a visit after 3 years!
• Gretchen's story about her Dad dotting the i at the Pitt Game
• Keystone State Park and its yurts
• Laurel Hill State Park and its lodge, and bathrooms!
• Watching:  Hamilton!!  Margaret Atwood documentary  The Parent Trap
• Podcast:  Make Me Smart 

July 5 Run: Meet at entrance to Frick Park, Reynolds and S. Homewood, then BYOCoffee at Roye's

We'll be back to forest bathing in Frick Park on Sunday - it did look glorious this morning, so let's meet at the entrance, at Reynolds and S. Homewood in Pt. Breeze.  Despite the depressing and scary COVID numbers lately, I have determined that Pt. Breeze has only had 7 cases so we should be OK.  (Polish Hill has had 0 cases - maybe we should go there next.)  After the run, we can walk the few blocks to my house (305 S. Lang Ave.) and I'll have chairs set apart in the shade, some sugary carbs cut in individual pieces, and a hose ready to cool anyone off.  Take that, Martha Stewart!

Last week we also drank in some cool green-ness in Frick Park, and afterwards lolled happily in Virginia's back patio, mainly reminiscing about decades-old entertainments.  The fact that "The Minnow Would Be Lost" song has been going through my head all week was actually kind of soothing!  We really need a lot of sooth right now.

So it would follow that endorsements were:

• Old shows:  The Love Boat, Mod Squad, Hogan's Heroes, Mr. Ed, Gilligan's Island, Laurel & Hardy, Snow White (Hitler's favorite movie?) and a lot more.  Also The Bionic Man, inspired by the return of Wendy (yay!) with some titanium in a compartment of her knee.  
• But some new shows:  Mrs. America, Hillary, The Good Fight, Irresistible.  
• Plus the fact that you can follow Trevor Noah, Seth Meyers, Samantha Bee, etc. on Instagram and get access to their shows.  I'm actually not sure that's right but it sounds like a good distraction.  We also need a lot of distractions.

June 28 Run: Meet at Virginia's house 1200 Lancaster in Regent Square

Thank you, Virginia! for hosting our next outdoor klatch at her house, 1200 Lancaster, Regent Square (map.)  We'll meet there and probably head down into Frick Park.  Due to the sad but necessary physical separation of humans, please BYO mask, coffee, biscuit, Bloody Mary, whatever.  But, we still have our loud and raucous voices to wake the neighbors and keep us together and sane.  If we are actually still sane.

Last week we managed a real run through Schenley Park and a real convo at Sharon's - getting a little closer to normal!  Endorsed:

• Bubbles and pods - getting to hang out with at least a few people
• St. Benedict the Moor Church gets to keep its iconic identity!
• Deer Valley Camp and Mt. Davis - getting away
• Sunset at Chataqua (nobody is there now!)
• Sharon's part in saving the world as her group starts working on the Blessed Vaccine
• The Droll Yankee Flipper squirrel-proof birdfeeder.  See what happened this morning in our backyard. We felt it approached Cirque de Soleil.  (No squirrel was harmed - we checked - in the making of this movie.)

June 21 Run: Meet at the Wendy Bennett Trailhead (see map in message) - then outdoor coffee at Sharon's!

Run/walk will start at the famous Wendy Bennett Trailhead (map). Wendy, please come back to your Trailhead soon!! We'll find the widest trails in the park and/or the CMU campus to spread out in. 

Afterwards, Sharon is hosting the next socially distanced outdoor coffee hour at her nearby house: "5612 Woodmont (near corner of Woodmont and Wightman). I’ll get water and snacks and happy to make a pot of coffee or people can BYO"  - which will be another much-needed and perfectly cautious get-together. 

Much to discuss as always and hopefully I won't lose the napkin this time.  Here's a good theme, as seen in the vicinity of Frick Park:

June 14 Run: Back to the Cemmie! Meet at entrance to Frick Park at S. Homewood and Reynolds

During this distancing time, we'll be having cemetery runs for a while, due to their wide avenues, breezy hilltops, beguiling statuary, and run-ins with groundhogs and other members of the animal kingdom.  We won't comment on the funereal symbolism, but hey, it's kind of right for the moment. So let's meet at the same place, corner of S. Homewood and Reynolds, which only coincidentally allows me to sleep an extra 15 minutes.

Photo: Masked walkers on Sunday.

Coffee hour on Wendy's patio felt like a blessed spring shower after the in-person talking drought of all these weeks, so we're doing it again, invited this time by Max, who lives a half block from there at 1411 Severn St. (around the corner from Five Points if you want to wait in line for ambrosial cardamom buns.)  Like last time, please BYOC (bring your own coffee - or tea - or vodka - everything goes now) and something to keep you from fainting from hunger.

Endorsements:

• Tuesday (tomorrow) 6-8 pm there is a protest bike ride sponsored by Major Taylor Cycling Club, "Honoring Slain Citizens" starting at the Trader Joe's parking lot.  See you there!
• Article: "Wendy Bennett keeps history from fading"!!
• HomeMadeMimi - "Yes, you can spackle. It's like putting on foundation."
• Another bike and walking trail:  Samuel Justus Recreation Trail
• Lainy's manicure lady at Pearl Nails which has just moved to Murray near Hobart.
• When you're on the highway and have to choose the least infected bathroom, RG recommends Sheetz.  If you want a movie theater, a shower, or to make your own milkshake, though, it's the truck stop you'll be looking for.
• The liberating feeling of living without lipstick, manicures, packing for conferences, hair coloring, pants.
• But if you do have to go to a conference some day, try the Denver Marriott in Cherry Creek.

Not endorsed:

• Gargling with hydrogen peroxide (now required at the dentist)

P.S.  Anyone wanting a blue VOTE face mask, just email me back with your address.

June 7 Run: Homewood Cemetery, meet at the entrance to Frick Park at S. Homewood and Reynolds

Yes, we're officially green as of today, and we're actually going to do a run again, but bring masks and your sense of a 6 ft. distance. The cemmie (as we know it) has nice wide avenues for spacing, and good breezes for blowing away germs.  Also a lot of critters these days.  We'll meet at our usual spot at the Frick Park gate at S. Homewood and Reynolds, so our last run isn't uphill.

AND, courtesy of Wendy, who has just the right setting on her patio, we will also have a REAL coffee hour! seated decently apart and with our favorite masks on.  (Though drinking the coffee will be a challenge.)  See the left side for details.

We'll talk about everything as always but NO HUGGING and NO SHARING.  Even though we will literally be in Mr. Rogers' own neighborhood.  This is something he never could have foreseen.  Don't forget to bring your own coffee and comestibles!

May 31 Run: 10th COVID edition, Destination: Oakland! Anywhere you like, then on to the coffee zoom

This week we recommend roaming around Oakland, though unfortunately you can't get into the famous basement bathroom in the Cathedral of Learning.  However, it's possible that St. Paul's will be open in our new yellow state - June is bustin' out all over evidently!  Though not at my house.  Karen won last week's spotting contest with 2.5 views of fellow RG members in Schenley Park.  It wasn't clear which half that was.  Also spotted by Aimee:

Here's the zooming link:
Join East End Runners  for virtual coffee after your actual solo run!

https://pitt.zoom.us/j/819900089

Meeting ID: 819 900 089

2 weeks of endorsements:

• First up - the COVID-19 Blues!  Courtesy of David and Jules Coulson - really don't miss this.
• Also, for Disney fans - "If Disney Songs Were About Quarantine"
• Hugelkultur - something about planting in raised beds
• Transformative composting! Also - a good place to store it until it goes outside:  Stainless steel containers, good for 30+ years according to Pam's very effective infomercial.
• Moth virtual story SLAM based in Pittsburgh, zoom to next one June 22.
• Stephen Colbert keeping us sane and laughing, despite that impossibility.
• Barack and Michelle (sorry, can't write for a minute due to crying jag) reading a book to children together (more crying.)
• Books:  Radical Spirit: 12 ways to live a free and authentic life, and The Library Book (with a jaw-dropping description of a library conflagration in Los Angeles).
• Ticks - good ones (no Lyme Disease).  We hated them until we got the bad ones.
• Zoom meetings with judge's dogs, patients in their underwear, and attorneys in bed
• Haircuts without talking!
• New York Times No-Knead Bread - seriously astounding
• CSA's this summer  - there will be many but so far there is Kretschmann (been doing this for at least 20 years) and Harvie Farms (somehow related to Penn's Corner?)
• The Wednesday and Friday runs, leaving at 5:45 from Squirrel Hill Library corner, still going!! though described by attendees as "barely moving."