Everything's better in October. Even Pittsburgh.

Well, OK. Not everything. It's midterm in college land, which means the students are stressed and unhappy, which in turn means that my job kinda sucks right now. But a lot of things are better in this, my favorite month. The morning view from the 10th Street Bridge, in particular.

Three mornings a week I walk from the Southside to Duquesne, which means I have to cross the 10th Street Bridge, climb an intimidating set of steps, and cross the Boulevard of the Allies. The steps often make me curse DU's lofty location, but the bridge affords a notable view of downtown, the Southside, Oakland, and of course, the Mon. Because I cross the bridge so often, however, I began to ignore the view--until Monday, when the morning sunshine met the fog, producing spectacular results (that language would render ordinary, so I won't even try to describe them). I will, however, mention that I was reminded again, for the first time in a while, how oddly appealing Pittsburgh can be.

Fall glory unfolded again (in a distinctly Pittsburgh way) over the weekend when Mike and I hiked around the Southside slopes. It doesn't get any more Pittsburgh than the slopes, where sets of stairs are considered streets, old row houses are built into the hillside, and the downtown skyline can be viewed from the woods. We took the "church" route, which begins on 21st Street and winds around to Monastery and Pius streets, and shamelessly craned our necks over fences to check out houses we loved and their enviable views. The tree leaves were beginning to change, the air was crisp, and I experienced a rare moment of satisfaction with myself and the world. It was short-lived: while walking over a bridge, I looked down and noticed that the sidewalk was made of metal grating that provided a dizzying view of the 100-foot drop beneath. Immediately I imagined a snap of rusted metal and my body plummeting into the ravine below, where it would smash, pumpkin-like, into an unrecognizable mush of flesh. Ah, what a pleasant day.

Recently I've criticised myself for becoming one of those Pittsburghers who never leaves their neighborhood. But the Southside has basically everything I want and need: a movie theater, cheap European fashion (H & M), a grocery store, bookstores, a library, Crazy Mocha (a must!), and plenty of bars and restaurants. Oh, and enviable October vistas. So why should I leave?