Niagara Falls

Back in March I had a couple days of meetings in Buffalo. Niagara Falls is really close, so before meeting up with work people for dinner I ran over for some pictures at sunset.


I was wondering why all the souvenir shops were closed? March is definitely the off-season at Niagara Falls. As you approach the falls the breeze and the damp makes it feel 10° colder — the floating mist would freeze just as soon as it hit you. My camera was coated with a thin crust of ice, and the sidewalks were like a skating rink.



Niagara Falls gives me the willies each time, because of the sheer power plowing past you just a few feet away. I've been a homeowner with roof leaks — I understand how water plus gravity is one of the most destructive forces on earth. Standing at the edge of Niagara Falls I can't help but wonder how the ground I'm standing on isn't washed away with all that rumbling just past the safety gate.

One Kill, Two Falls

In Glenville, New York where I live we have some amazingly beautiful scenery, literally in our backyards.

I took this photo today of the third falls of the Indian Kill, a stream that runs through the gulleys behind the neighborhoods of our town. (The word kill is Dutch for stream.) It's no big deal to go out the back door of your house and explore hiking trails through forests, streams and waterfalls. A topo map of our neighborhood reveals elevation shifts of 100' within a short jog.

When you see Calvin and Hobbes sledding off cliffs into a riverbed below, that's the kind of terrain we have here. We live in a land of many waters, rivers, and fountains.

I visit the Indian Kill a few times each year, but always at the same waterfall. Today I visited twice, both times using new entry points.

The first visit was a picnic lunch with Carter and Claire at the second falls where we usually go. This time we entered through Hemlock Hollow, which looks like an empty wooded lot between houses in their mom's new neighborhood. Walk behind the trees and the path drops steeply into a ravine that leads to our favorite waterfall below — a shortcut! We sat on a rocky outcrop with our feet at the waterfall for a cheese & crackers lunch. After all the rain this weekend the sound was deafening.

On my second visit tonight I went to the Indian Kill Nature Preserve to prep for a Webelos hike this week — my second time there, but I went deeper in this time. I discovered fifty-foot plateaus overlooking the kill below, water-carved gullies, wildflowers, ferns, squishy mud from this weekend's rain, and the beautiful third falls.

I am constantly amazed at how lucky I am to live on top of this amazing terrain.

The Dance

Every time I visit Missouri my mom asks if there’s anything I want to take home with me. In her earlier days she was an artist, and there are a few of her pieces that are special to me because I've known them since I was little.

This is one of my mother’s sculptures from her college years called, “The Dance.”

The process she describes to create it is fascinating. She carved the original sculpture out of wax. After encasing the wax in concrete, she fired it to melt out the wax and create a mold. She found a block of aluminum in a scrap yard, melted it down in a furnace, then poured it into the mold. When the concrete was broken away, she was left with a very rough aluminum form which she then polished in spots, and left rough from the concrete finish in others.

This is a fun piece to have on display. The sculpture spins on its base and you can examine it from different angles. It’s got heft and texture; it’s meant to be touched. The Easter Bunny has a tradition each year to hide an egg in the round loop at the top.

The best part of this piece to me? That it came from my mom.

May the Fourth Be With You

I don't appear on my blog that often, but it's Star Wars Day. Star Wars came out 37 years ago today on May 4, 1977, and as I wrote in a previous post, it has pretty much ruled my world since.

Here are some of my original 1978 Star Wars figures. Amazing I could dig up this many from the toy box, my kids like playing with them and they get scattered around the house. Boba Fett you could only get by mailing in several proof of purchases, although we didn't yet know who he was.

A couple days ago a friend said on Facebook she had never seen Star Wars. Think of the hundreds of cultural references she's missed through the years. A new person moved into my building last week; I haven't met him yet, but I can tell he's the decent sort. How do I know? From the Rebel Alliance sticker in his rear windshield. (Check out Luke's helmet whenever he's dressed in pilot orange.)

I watched Empire Strikes Back last night with my younger kids to commemorate our new Lego Wampa we got a couple weeks ago. It's been 37 years and George Lucas is still making money off me.

Wet Paint

Grandma sent me home from Missouri with a present for the kids. Our Saturday afternoon-turned-rainy was perfect weather for cracking open a new craft paint set. Once we clear the kitchen floor (our drying rack) we'll be updating our refrigerator door content. And maybe yours, too.