Peak time

Completed two life insurance applications and started on an investment app when Beth came home at about 4 p.m. Monday and said she was ready for a walk as long as she could be back for her 5 p.m. virtual work obligation.

She started stretching. A really smart poodle named Gord ran in circles, jumping on me, jumping on her, he knows our cues.

We headed on my favorite route down Cliff Street and through the fence toward the gorge past the sign that reminds us “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”

Beth checked her phone and realized her 5 canceled and it was a beautiful day. Usually, we turn left, head through Whirlpool Park and DeVeaux Woods and then walk home.

Today I suggested we go right. Beth said she was up for stairs so into Devil’s Hole we went.

Every time I walk there, I think of the 85 British soldiers killed in battle by indigenous people defending their portage route in 1785. I also wonder how toxic the Bloody Run gully might be since it drained a toxic landfill for decades.

I also contemplate the ancient cedars in the gorge. No one recognized the significance until Bruce Kershner looked more closely. It’s hard to imagine that pine tree with the 3-inch trunk is 500 years old.

The trail between Devil’s Hole and Whirlpool is closed by signage but the trail goes right past and it is obvious no one has been paying attention. The trail is well worn. If there was a slide it now has a path right across the top.

Another trail was closed this week in the same area but I don't know where.

Everytime we walk we give thanks for the beauty of this place. Living here is a privilege we can only afford because of Shredd and Ragan branding the Falls as a shithole weekly as facilitated by the Niagara Gazette where the front page says “community matters” but not really.

Homes in the DeVeaux neighborhood should sell for twice what they do. I laughed about that the other day with a neighbor who has lived in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Westchester.

“My daughter visited and said ‘Dad, this is the nicest place you have ever lived. How can you afford this?’ ” Now he lives in a place where his daughter wants to visit.

Eventually the paper will close, Shredd and Ragan will go away and real estate values will recover. For now, it’s the best bargain in Western New York.