have a love affair with something every day

i try to fall in love with something every day.

for me, this summer, it has been western new york. buffalo turned buffalove. niagara falls, new york. old world. new england. how dare they. this world is new, falls, rising.

it is not the beef on weck, or sponge candy. i can easily live without both, but i love that these two things are so unique to here, to this place, where old and broken doesn’t mean discarded.

no.

old and broken is just waiting for the right moment. we will be rescued, is what these buildings say, we will be found, and our treasure will be seen.

and that is something my heart in-joy-s.

i am falling in love with something buffalove and niagara usa every day.

lovely lake erie beaches. bennett. woodlawn. gallagher. evangola.

silos. once wrapped in blue green purple light, with paper windmills projected on their western end, they are bearers of hope, of vision, of a colorful future where everything is possible.

water, especially as it falls. glen park in williamsville. the eternal flame near orchard park. and of course, our falls. those powerful, majestic niagara falls. american, bridal veil, horseshoe. there is a time and place for modesty. this here is not it. i caution you, reveler, reader, worshipper. respect the water, respect gravity.

these falls, like nature, always, are unforgiving. that is their power, that is their beauty.

last week, i fell in love with stories of haunts. i used to discard them, but today, i relish their layers, and the dreams they hide.

on sunday, i madly loved the heat. it was easy – i was working, and had aircondition. and it reminded me of all my alaskan summers that barely made it above 62 degrees fahrenheit. so i fiercely loved me that sticky humid heat in elmwood village.

and almost every other day, i swear, i fall in love with a gesture, a smile, a voice, a character, an idiosyncrasy of niagara, of elmwood or buffalo or hydro-electric science or crazy cool art such as elevated beadwork.

i can fall in love with the way the sun hits the blinds and paints my room golden. the way the clouds obscure the sun at 8:22pm and paint the sky orange. the way the light hits the mist on luna island and conjures up fat vibrant rainbows, thick enough to sit on and let your legs dangle off.

the way the people around me are brave. like super brave. rappelling off the seneca casino brave. rolling down the falls in a barrel brave. balancing on a tightrope across the falls brave. starting fresh after losing everything brave. forgiving even the biggest jerk type of brave. putting dreams on hold so that babies have happy childhoods type of brave. loving after a broken heart kind of brave.

western new york is full of people like that. my family is full of people like that. my soul family: you are all people like that.

so no wonder i fall in love every day.

i challenge you, and i invite you, just for one week:

fall in love with something every day