Pittsburgh Bucket List

I am creating a Pittsburgh bucket list for 2023:

When the weather is warmer:
visit Jenni's ice cream in Bakery Square
picnic at Washington's Landing
Segway Pittsburgh tour
penguin walk at the Pittsburgh Zoo
kayaking on the Allegheny River
lunch at D'S 6pack and Dogs in Regent Square with friends J.M. and J.H.
J.H. has also invited herself to Randyland on the North Side

These ones are weather-independent:
a tour of Bayernhof
rollerskating at Neville Roller Dome (+dinner at Carmody's Grille)
a Liberty Magic show downtown
The Woods House for Scottish eggs, whiskey, etc., in Homewood

St. Anthony's for the relics

Trundle  Manor!

Someone mentioned the Kelso Museum of Near Eastern Archeology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. There's also a Latin American Cultural Center in Oakland. Someone else recommended visiting Kecksburg, PA, site of a UFO siting in 1965.

What else should I add to this list? We've already checked off "drive across the new Fern Hollow Bridge."

2022: The Year That Was

I am delighted but also a little bewildered that it is time to write another year in review blog post. Where did 2022 go? Here's what I pulled out of my rememberlutions jar, with photos and links to some of my favorite memories. Above: at friends' wedding in early April

January

It was a cold and snowy start to the year. Not content to hike through Frick Park, we took our old knees skiing at Seven Springs.

We also tried glass blowing at the Pittsburgh Glass Center! After forgetting our vaccination cards the previous fall for a group class, I rescheduled us for a private lesson with another couple. We made these colorful glass pumpkins:

When I THEN forgot my driver's license at home, I managed to use my medical license as a form of ID to see The Rose Elf by the Pittsburgh Opera. We had season tickets for the 2021-2022 season.

February

Due to Omicron, I rescheduled my trip to Charlotte to visit family from January to February.

I completed several anatomical cross stitches that were auctioned off for Birmingham Free Clinic.

I want to remember savoring every perfect cup of tea with the right about of milk at just the right temperature.

March

We took our first vacation by air since the pandemic started, to Phoenix. Just as the Delta wave was receding, I saw online advertisements for a Daly Chihuly art-glass exhibit at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West and at the Desert Botanical Garden and decided that we needed a spring break trip. Although the MLB labor dispute meant there was no spring training, we had such a good time that we are planning to return this coming March to see more sights (and hopefully finally some Cactus-League baseball). Above: Taliesin West Right: sculpture in the garden at the Heard Museum

When we returned to Pittsburgh, we finalized the purchase of a house just south of the city! The day we moved was also the visitation for my medical history mentor, John Erlen, who had passed away suddenly a few weeks earlier.

April

I took a plane and a train to Saratoga Falls, NY, for the American Association of the History of Medicine conference, where we sampled the "waters."

DH and I toured the new biographical exhibit at the August Wilson Center before watching Blue, a new opera about a Black family and police violence.

May

I'm remembering every patient who thanked me or said they valued my opinion or care, including the one who told me I am "the best PCP."

June

This month we squeezed in some local arts and culture: another August Wilson play, Two Trains Running, at the O'Reilly Theater, and a hilarious, undersubscribed performance of The Illustrious Invalid, about French playwright Molière.

We also visited Ohiopyle with my awesome parents. Left: Cucumber Falls

July

I celebrated turning 40 years old with a trip to the local water park.

We also hosted multiple birthday-open house-anniversary parties in order to keep the numbers down and get to enjoy everyone's company.

August

We had another amazing family vacation at a lake.

I visited a Pittsburgh landmark, the Carrie Blast Furnace.

September

For Labor Day, DH and I went hiking with friend JH to Alpha Falls.

I flew to Houston for the German Studies Association conference and visited the Czech Center & Museum.

A colleague sent me an email: "I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your talk on Friday. You have a really engaging presentation style that made it easy to listen and absorb the content. Hoping to hear more from you in the future." ~JK

I'm also remembering Zoom dates to craft with my girlfriend, JR; and a variety of game nights or ice cream socials with friends.

October

On a whim, I took a train/bus daytrip with college pal KS and her hubby to Carlisle, PA, where we saw the grave of Molly Pitcher and watched an outdoor performance of Mother Courage at Dickinson College.

DH and I saw the world premiere of a lost opera, Idaspe, by Quantum Theater.

I finally caught SARS-CoV-2 this month.

Once out of isolation, we had a truly excellent, atmospheric Halloween, complete with spooky soundtrack and a movable spider to scare the ~120 trick-or-treaters.

Above: Here I am at home in front of my built-in, wall-to-wall bookcases; and again at work, in my costume as "Iron Chef," reminiscent of many cooking and baking adventures.

November

We participated in packing 100,000 servings of dried soup mix at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

Thanksgiving was celebrated with DH's family in Cincinnati.

I had a number of shorter scholarly pieces published and look forward to a co-edited special edition of the German Studies journal Seminar appearing in 2023.

December

I've worked either New Year's Eve or Christmas Eve the last two years, so hopefully in the coming year I will get to relax while it's someone else's turn. 

Almost a full week with my family in Baltimore, including surprise tickets to see a comedic re-telling of "The Hound of the Baskervilles," one of the most famous Sherlock Holmes mysteries, at the Everyman Theater.

Here we are with some of the New Jersey crew.