Jessica's Ramblings

August 15, 2006 (Jessica) I’ve come to think of us as the Wild Thornberrys…um Wild Thornguillorys that is. Though roles are reversed as I am Nigel, the educator and gatherer of information, and Daren is Marion, the mother of the show, always with several cameras around his neck. His technological devices are driving me insane, always underfoot and in the way, though I always seem to appreciate them in the end. “Why do we need 2 lap-tops honey?” Well, one might break, of course. Wilson would then be Liza, the one who communicates with animals and finds them enthralling. Rachel, I assign as the Debbie character, the teenager who acts all cool and hip, yet keeps an eye on what’s going on with the nature show and is more interested than she wants everyone to know. And Alena, well she’s the wild boy they found in the woods, Donny of course. Red hair flying, joyous look on her face, left arm swinging crazily as she careens around. She loves to get out of the ‘Arvy” and say “bye-bye Momma” and takes off!
Today I had a flash-forward as I biked along Lake Ontario with everyone. I passed by Daren, who was pulling Alena and what I saw sent me into hysterics until I had to pull over and wipe away the tears. Alena was sitting in her little vehicle behind Daren’s bike and was kicked back, red hair flying in the wind as though in a convertible, and was on the cell phone, literally. She was jabbering like crazy, thoroughly enjoying her ride while talking on the phone. It turned out to be her good friend Tori, who had called Daren. Lena had the phone in her contraption and answered it when it rang. Tori caught right on luckily and said “hi Lena Bena, it’s Tori!” Apparently, Lena told her how we all needed juice now and that she had just seen a dog. She talked to her for 5 minutes before Daren pulled over to see who had called!
I had never really considered New York as a state itself, always as the city. It’s quite a large state. I had no idea the type of agriculture going on up here. Passing through Ohio, I couldn’t believe the amount of vineyards, and in NY there are endless orchards of all types. Lucky for us, they are a couple of months behind us in the growing season and are just now beginning to pick their peaches and they still have blueberries! We’ve been feasting! It’s funny to see snowball bushes in full bloom in August.
Yesterday, we went to see Niagara Falls and I can say I’ve done it now, but have no desire to go back. I couldn’t get beyond the “bastardization” as my friend Dave Clements, would say. Wilson was able to and I was glad. I could hardly see the falls for the hoards of people, the power lines and the buildings. We were standing, admiring the Horseshow Falls and here comes a boat full of people in blue trash bags, smooshed together tightly, trying to get as close as possible to the bottom of the falls. So much for that picture. I listened to people’s comments throughout the day and heard, “did you see how wet I got?”, and “did you see how close we got?”, and “we got cool shoes to wear on that tour!” I was bothered by the fact that few were expounding upon the beauty that was there underneath the over commercialized falls. I had to really force a “moment’ of appreciation as I stepped up the man-made steps which bring you to the bottom of one fall. I looked up at the gorgeous falls, blocked out the man-made construction ramp and such, and looked at the cliffs which the water poured over, the moss which was growing along the drenched rocks, and the wild flowers blooming along the side. It was a fleeting moment as the family behind me began arguing. I much prefer the smaller falls in the Ozarks which I have hiked to and can sit solitarily and enjoy.
Tomorrow we head into Canada! I can’t wait to see the differences in culture and such.