"Oh"

My friend and I left last Saturday, July 4, for western NY state and then to Canada, just barely. We flew into Buffalo, rented a car, and drove southwest along Lake Erie to a small community of homes dating from the mid 19th century.

We stayed there a few days, hung out, walked, visited the locals, and left. We stayed in a 150 year-old hotel with teeny rooms and few baths (We had one of them.)

There were signs that said: "No smoking. No incense. No candles." We like incense, yet deferred to the management. After all, the place was rickety. Old. A bit off-level, at a slight slant.

After a few days, we drove north to "the falls," i.e., Niagara Falls. Yes, we did. Oh... did we ever. Up that way, people say, "oh" a LOT. They say it like this: "Oh!" Yet they leave the sound wandering for a bit, like this: "Ohh!" Yet they don't say it with suddenness, as if surprised. It rolls out: "Ohh."

And they say, "holy moly." And, if surprised, mildly, they might say, "Oh no." Imagine the movie, "Fargo." The "o's" are very, very well enunciated, and long. Try this: "Oh my!"

Neither of us expected to be wowed much, except for the falls, and they are pretty dam wow. They're tall, 172 feet, and mighty. Walking up next to the top, where they spill over the edge, the energy's palpable. I had to lean back for a minute, then lean back in, just to feel familiar enough with the sound and sight of its fury, its rush, its might.

They are wet, too, as you might imagine. The spray shoots over a hundred feet above the top of the falls, and its mist is everywhere.

The only problem, as usual, is... there are so many people. They're from everywhere, no part of the world dominated. Gawky northern Europeans. Curious Asians. Seemingly preoccupied middle-Easterns, who came in large groups with kids. The Europeans seemed the most confused, turning around a lot, it seemed like, and asking the most questions.

We were the only southerners, I think. Pretty sure.