Upstate New York

Getting there

A long day of airports. One plane had a maintenance issue. The next one had too much fuel, so we deplaned while they sorted that out — a problem I'd never heard of and still don't fully understand. Mom took all of it better than I did. But we made it, and we got to Aunt Debbie's.

Two days of work, then the back roads

I worked both days. Friday afternoon I broke away and the three of us — me, Mom, and Aunt Debbie — drove out to Letchworth, taking the back roads instead of the highway. Wildflowers along the shoulders, beautiful old houses, farmland going gold at the edges. The drive was half the point, and better with company.

Goldenrod on a rusted fence line. The back roads were half the reason I went.

state park · letchworth

Most of Letchworth is looking down — overlook after overlook into the gorge, which is impressive in a distant sort of way. Then you get to the falls, and it stops being distant.

Most of Letchworth is looking down into it.

Upper Falls

The waterfalls here are nothing like what I've seen in the national parks. Yosemite's falls are tall and skinny, a long white ribbon down a granite face. This was the opposite — wide, stacked, layer on layer of rock with the water spreading across all of it. It was incredible.

The bridge sits directly over the top of it. You can stand at the rail and get the falls and the trestle in one frame, which is why everyone does.

Jewelweed in the foreground, and the whole thing going over behind it.

The stonework

Half of what I photographed wasn't water at all — stone staircases, low walls curving along the road, a wooden footbridge through the trees. Somebody built all of that by hand a long time ago and it has held up.

Somebody laid these by hand a long time ago.

What was blooming

Late August is a good time for this. Goldenrod everywhere, jewelweed hanging along the wet edges, white asters, wild clematis climbing whatever it could reach.

Great blue lobelia. I didn't know the name until later.

Jewelweed. It grows where poison ivy grows, which seems like a fair arrangement.

Dinner after

After the park we found a Mexican place with four tables. Authentic street tacos — asada, pollo, barbacoa. They were delicious.

Asada, pollo, barbacoa. Four tables and worth the drive.

Uncle Joe

Up early, packed, and out. First stop was the cemetery.

Uncle Joe was Mom's brother. He passed five months ago, and this was the first time she'd stood in front of the stone. It's a beautiful headstone. I stayed back and let her have the time.

I wish I had gotten to know him better. That's the kind of thing you only get to say afterward, which is most of why I'm writing it down.

Mom's brother. Five months, and the first time she'd stood here.

Don & Bob's at Seabreeze

Then the rest of them. Mom sat down with people she hadn't been in a room with in decades, and I saw cousins I hadn't seen since 1991. It takes effort to stay in touch with family, especially when you live far away, and I'd like to work harder at it. That's not a resolution so much as a note to myself.

Cousins I hadn't seen since 1991.

The walk out to the light

Aunt Debbie and I walked and talked. It was beautiful out. We made it all the way to the end where the beacon is, out on the rocks with the lake opening up behind it. I got a pretty good shot.

The end of the walk, where the bay lets out into the lake.

A day to myself

Mom stayed back with family. I drove to Niagara by myself — the only day of the eight I had entirely to myself, and I needed it more than I'd been admitting. I woke up not wanting to leave the hotel at all, since I haven't been sleeping much since I got here, so I moved my 11:30 reservation to dinner and gave myself the morning back. That turned out to be the right call.

The rail on the American side

Before I crossed, I walked the rail. No boat, no tunnel, no tour — just the railing and all that water going over the edge of it. That was all I wanted from it, and it was enough.

state park · niagara falls

Skylon Tower

Skylon is the revolving restaurant on the Canadian side, and the view does the work. Cider to start, then French onion soup, then Chilean sea bass — my favorite, though I've had better — and crème brûlée to finish. The room turns slowly enough that you don't notice until the falls have moved from your left shoulder to your right.

Horseshoe Falls, throwing its own weather.

I had limited time and I'd go back. But eating dinner by myself above all that water was exactly the thing I didn't know I'd come for.

The drive home

On the way back I passed a truck sitting in a field of purple flowers and had to stop for it. Two geese crossed the road in front of me at a walking pace, entirely unbothered.

Had to stop for this one.

Two identical, good days

Worked all day both days. Dinner and a movie at Uncle Jim's both nights — Mom with her other brother, me on the couch, nobody performing anything. Nothing to report and nothing I'd trade. It was good quality time, which is the whole reason we came.

The long way home

Flight to West Palm, then across to Port St. Lucie to get Mom back to her own front door, then the drive to St. Pete. I anticipate it will be a long day. It's the right shape for one, though — she went north to her brothers, and I brought her back.

Last light over somebody's field, on the way back from somewhere.