Deep Creek Lake and Niagara Falls

Summer on the East Coast is an effort to escape the humidity and to outsmart the mosquitos. I had such wonderful notions of grilling outdoors, and sipping gin and tonic on the patio. Instead I hide behind the screened door, shouting cooking instructions to Won, and trying to warn him when I see a mosquito hovering behind his leg. Still, armed with DEET, we found some refuge at Deep Creek Lake a few weeks ago. The hiking was pitiable (too many gnats, and not enough elevation), but the uninterrupted reading time was lovely.

We had better luck in evading the humidity last weekend at Niagara Falls. I’ve seen some amazing waterfalls in my life: long skinny ones that look like veins on a cliff face, tiered ones cascading over moss-covered stone, even ones that appear to flow backwards against gravity, driven by the wind. From the Cascades to the Remarkables to the Milford Sound, yet none are more jaw-dropping and thunderous as the one that’s less than a 2-hour flight from DCA, surrounded by a sea of kitsch.

We were in Buffalo for a wedding, and decided to make a pilgrimage to Niagara with some friends. I remember the Niagara Falls being sort of a destination in the 1990s, a go-to engagement photo shoot location, and in the national news periodically when some fool decided to try to go over the Falls in a barrel. I guess the Falls couldn’t compete with the heyday of Instagram, and the lure of places like Machu Picchu. The ubiquitous Maid of the Mist ponchos and Indian trading posts around town probably don’t help. There was no line for the Maid of the Mist, so off we went for a boat ride to the base of the Falls. Mystical it is not, but big and loud and unsubtle and admirable, it really is. It’s a bit of a metaphor for America, maybe.

It’s a little strange to not be governed by the cycles that guide most of the lives around us: the start of the school year is imminent, and I’m only noticing because of the ubiquitous social media posts of kids on their first day of the next school grade. I surmise that schools in the South are already in session. Hopefully, here in Maryland, the traffic on the morning commute will stay light for a few more weeks. When the kiddos leave the vacation spots, Won and I will travel again. Next up, Vermont in September!

August 13, 2018