Agriculture Meets Archaeology

Last week I photographed an archaeology site on Steve Patricia's farm in Ligonier Township. He'd discovered some interesting artifacts while digging on his land a couple of years ago and invited the University of Pittsburgh Archaeology department to research there. Behind the camera is the organized clutter of stakes, labels, strings, and archaeology students wearing bright colors and slowly brushing away matrix (dirt). Even though it doesn't tell the whole story, I liked the simplicity of this image. Most of what is known about this chunk of land comes from records from the church you see in the background.



Landowner Steve Patricia looks over the archaeology site on his farm in Ligonier Township, Pa., that is part of the university's Field Farm Archaeology and History Project on June 24, 2009.
(Sarah Beth Glicksteen/Tribune-Review)

Flash floods

There were bad storms in Westmoreland County on Wednesday evening. I've been photographing entire basements that had to be gutted due to flood damage, and entire businesses that have to either close down or start from scratch. It's hard to see. I can only imagine what the people actually cleaning it up are going through. There's a strong sense of solidarity, though. Neighbors help neighbors, friends help friends. Nobody said they were in it alone. It made me proud to be a part of the community here, even if it's only for the summer.


Roy Bauer, of Greensburg, uses a lantern to inspect flood damage at the Manor House Tavern, where there was still no power Thursday afternoon, following Wednesday evening's storm. Bauer and his wife have owned the tavern for 29 years, and learned Thursday morning that they don't have flood insurance. "It's amazing," Bauer said, "You can be in business and in a manner of four hours, you're done."
(Sarah Beth Glicksteen/Tribune-Review)


Mud-soaked eyeglasses sit in a basement window at Cross of Christ Ministries in Jeannette, Pa., on June 19, 2009. The church basement was filled with mud and debris following Wednesday evening's storms.
(Sarah Beth Glicksteen/Tribune-Review)


Jacob Hertzog, 10, sorts through his family's belongings in their backyard in Jeannette Pa., on June 19, 2009. The family had to completely gut their basement following Wednesday evening's storms. His father, Kevin Hertzog, holds his head in the background, as his sister, Amber Hertzog, 15, throws more debris into a trash fire.
(Sarah Beth Glicksteen/Tribune-Review)

For the Bees

While I was out feature-hunting Saturday, this little girl was hunting for things to fill a plastic bottle. I asked her what she was doing and her dad answered for her (this is pretty standard procedure for my interviews with the 5-and-under crowd).

Him: "Oh, that's for the bees."

Me: "Oh, you keep bees at home?"

Him: "No. But she said she was getting flowers for the bees," he answered, completely straight-faced.

How lovely, to spend a beautiful afternoon outside, and adopt your 4-year-old's fantasy world without question.



Nicholas Rose (left), 8, of Murrysville watches as Emily Rose, 4, of Murrysville, looks for items to fill a plastic bottle of flowers she said were for the bees, during her sister's softball game at James E Townsend Memorial Park in Murrysville.
(Sarah Beth Glicksteen/Tribune-Review)

More dog pictures

I did a second edit of my dog show shoot with a different photographer. Here are four of my favorites that didn't make it into the first slideshow.

Pooped Out.

Foxberry Elron K Kringle, left, and Foxberry Elron Dieter, right, nap while their owner, Dorie MIchehl, chats with friends after the first day of workshops at the American Dog Show Judges Institute at the University of Pittsburgh in Greensburg on June 5, 2009. "K", left, is a six month old Swedish Vallhund who had her first show today. (Sarah Beth Glicksteen/Tribune-Review)

This plus nine more in a slideshow, now playing on the PittsburghLIVE.com: Show dogs put judges through the hoops.

Curious Kid

Dymond Crawford, 7, from Jeannette, peeks down Pittsburgh Street from her babysitter's balcony in Greensburg on June 3, 2009. (Sarah Beth Glicksteen/Tribune-Review)

I was feature hunting again Wednesday when I saw Dymond and her sister spying on the storeowner below them from their babysitter's balcony. Luckily there's plenty of metered street parking on Pittsburgh Street. This standalone feature was published in yesterday's paper. It was a bright spot on the local page, next to a rape story, a murder story, and a tax controversy.

Curious Pooch

First day of my internship at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, my editor sent me out to look for standalone features. He said he was just seeing how I did with a deadline (I had about an hour and a half).

I should have told him about BU's legendary one mile dashes to and from Fenway, when Joe Lippincott gave us forty minutes to sweet talk our way into the ballpark, shoot, edit, caption, and print. That went well.

Anyway, this ran in the local section yesterday, above the headline "Curious Pooch". You can also see it in yesterday's daily photo gallery.


Laurie Stankay (right) and Ashley Albertson react as Albertson's pug, Abby, meets Autumn Delellis. Stankay and her daughter-in-law, Delellis, stopped to talk to Abby in downtown Greensburg because they have similar black pugs. (Sarah Beth Glicksteen/Tribune-Review)