Rambling on a Wednesday

• Seem like a good day to empty the notebook
• Smelled a skunk last week, late. Gord came in but did not get sprayed.
• Giving a tour Sunday, I was on the deck leading to the Maid of the Mist elevator when I heard a strange bird. Not a gull, something more conversational. I took out my phone was we waited and called up Merlin. It is a peregrine falcon family nesting on the rocks below.
• I peeled off the Slow Roll Bike Party Friday and headed up Buffalo Avenue near the wastewater treatment plan when a gigantic coyote ran in front of me about 30 feet away. It came so fast I stood no chance at getting a photo but when I see a ‘yote that big I wonder about wolf blood.
• The Carolina wrens are done fledging and have returned to being the noisiest songbirds around.

Bike riding tales

• The wildflower meadows along the lower river between Whirlpool State Park and the Aquarium are thriving. I carry scissors. Don’t tell the people offended by the thought I have chickens lest the police pursue me for possession of a weapon.
• Last summer, I lost two pairs of lights in front of Hard Rock Cafe. Now I remove them whenever I lock my bike there. Lock your car.
• Beeton’s Cyclery is the best bike shop in the Falls. I go there any time I need something minor. The next big investment will be tires.
• Riding to Lewiston, I always stop at Fort Gray and gaze at Toronto. It is 1.8 miles from Devil’s Hole, 2 from Lewiston. I have never seen another human at the overlook.
• Angela Berti assures me the path into Artpark is progressing but I never seem to see any work progressing.

Tour guests

I always point at Niagara Falls, Ontario, and tell people it is a suburb of Toronto. “You can get that in Atlantic City, Vegas or many other place. They will never get this back.” Then I gesture at the beauty of Goat Island and the remainder of the State Park.

As I was walking the other day, I explained to my guests about how Canadians always excessively apologize and how every third person we see there seems to have a story about an important Gord in their life. As if on cue, a guest chimed in.

“Sorry for interrupting but Gordie Howe was my favorite hockey player.” I could only laugh. It was not a setup.

I also talk about wineries. “If you want good wine, you can get it on both sides but in Canada, be ready for a $1 million tasting room, call for an appointment and pay $40 for the experience. In the States, you can find your way to Chateau Niagara. Jim Baker may have grease under his nails, because he’s been retrofitting a used cultivator to his tractor, but he will sit down, tell you with pride about his Cab Franc, and charge you $10 or less for the tasting.

Some guests recently have had a rough time with short term rentals. One group staying on 4th said they checked in to find horrific urine smells, demanded and received a refund. They loved the Giacomo, where they ended up.

Eight guests staying on Elmwood Avenue near Main reported seeing a prostitute and her pimp selling drugs and seeing clients outside. The guests were here from Boston for a bachelor party and were unphased.

Other guests said they were staying on 18th Street. The midwesterners said the neighborhood was rough. The father looked at me and said “I carry”. I asked if that was legal across state lines. “I don’t care,” he said. “I have to protect my family.” “I don’t blame you” I said.

Traffic and what was

A couple times weekly I go to Williamsville for work. The 290 is nasty. I try to take the backroads home. Tuesday I went past the office to Main Street Clarence for Great Lakes Coffee. 16 ounces of Ontario roast beans are still just $10.

I left there and decided to head north to Spoth’s in East Amherst. I grabbed peaches, plums, beans and corn. We don’t have a Falls/Lewiston market to match it.

Heading north, I decided to go to up Transit to Niagara Produce for briquettes. Egads man, what a nightmare. Not only did it take 30 minutes but bumper-to-bumper traffic, a long line in the store and they didn’t have the product I wanted. I walked out.

That’s another superior thing about living in Niagara Falls. I just went 4 days without driving. Everything is bikeable. Even if you drive, there is never traffic and everything is 10-minutes or less away.