Niagara Falls...Literally

Our family just returned from a mini-vacation that included a stop through Niagara Falls on the US, not Canadian side.  To say that this wonder is an absolutely incredible, beautiful work of mother nature is a gross understatement.  While Kim had visited Niagara a few times as a child, the rest of us were seeing it for the first time.  It struck me how the massive, chaotic flow of so much water was yet another metaphor for the futility of our near constant efforts at 'Controlling' every aspect of our life and circumstances.  Isn't it better to simply 'Be Accepting' and 'Let Go' during the crazy, white waters life occasionally throws our way?

The city of Niagara on the US side seems to be experiencing the turbulence of sustained white waters herself.  While the park itself was certainly still maintained, the city has decayed and literally fallen since Kim and her family visited as a child.  It was quite remarkable how many homes and businesses, literally right next to the park were abandoned, with windows broken out or boarded up.  Gone were the many shops and restaurants that used to be found there.  Even the once glorious Hotel Niagara, once visited by many historical celebrities was circled by a fence, in a similar state of disrepair.  Upon driving through so much more of the city, we found very little different.  It was depressing really, especially after checking online about the nature of the city's decline.  Violent crime is now worse there than New York City, a fact we absolutely couldn't believe and left us a bit apprehensive about our visit there.

As we drove toward home, we lamented about this travesty.  How could the Canadian side of Niagara Falls be in such great shape in so many ways, while our own US attraction languished?  Kim wondered, were we doing too much 'Comparing', 'Competing', and futile 'Controlling'?  Was this our pride and ego getting the best of us?  Probably and yet surely there is something that can and must be done to fix things?  Then again, perhaps the incredible wonder of nature called Niagara Falls doesn't really need anything we could provide as human beings to be somehow better than it already is, pure perfection.   

My Big Horn Sheep

Kim and I have been doing a huge amount of hiking lately along parts of the Appalachian trail near our house.  When I say huge, I mean 8-12 miles at a shot, on the part of the trail affectionately known as "roller coaster", the most strenuous part of the entire thing.  Well, I guess it's part of getting older or being less in shape than Kim, but she, like a big horn sheep, just seems to bound up the steepest sections without any effort at all, while I'm sucking wind just trying to ensure I put one foot in front of the other, overcoming the mental and physical exhaustion calling me to just stop and collapse.  It's so bad that at one point toward the end of our last hike, a young through hiker with a good 40 pounds on his back, passed me up, met Kim further up the trail where she was patiently waiting for me and as he passed her, commented, "don't worry, he's still coming."  HA!  I guess Kim decided she wanted to capture some of this in the video clip below.  I know, that's just not right. 

Why is it that when we were in our first years of marriage, it was Kim who had to struggle to keep up with me on strenuous hikes?  How is it that as the dude, she is now able to do more than I am?  I can't believe she is teasing me?  As I make it to where Kim is patiently waiting for me to catch up, the competing, comparing, complaining, and clinging begin to set in.  Stop, drop, and be I think.  Time to choose positive and playful.  At last, a downhill stretch.  Off I go, my trekking polls up and behind me like a downhill skier, as I sprint past Kim, her laughter trailing off behind me.  I'm no longer encumbered by the uphill struggle, my long legs taking me down faster than ever, forcing Kim to literally trail run to keep up.  Now I will show her what it feels like to get left behind.  HA!  "Oh and by the way babe, my new nick name for you is Big Horn Sheep".  She responds, "baaaaahhhhhh".