I’m taking my annual trip back to Buffalo next week to see my friends and family.

Part of the whole ‘growing up in Buffalo ‘ experience is a connection to Niagara Falls, which was virtually in our backyard and a place we went to often on a lark. (that meant skipping school)

It’s a good thing we did not have iPhones or smartphones back then. We would have been caught more than we already did. Photographing ‘the falls’ and being photographed by it, are great moments that must make George Eastman smile down from heaven every day.

My father introduced me to the camera and developing pictures. I have boxes of pictures. Real ones. The ones you hold in your hand and can’t seem to throw away. I don’t want to anyway. Those old pictures, and new ones that you make a print from are a shared legacy.

Hold it in your hand.

Carry it in your wallet.

Let it get all dog eared and funky.

Put it in a photo album, or tuck it in a sketch book… keep it over a lifetime, and then, just before it crumbles, find a way to preserve it and pass it on – all raggedy and loved.

Worthwhile things should endure, because a disposable legacy, is no legacy at all.

Well, my ex-pat son and his little family are off again. This time to settle in as full time citizens of Ecuador.

I was 16 years old before I ever took my first airplane ride. My little grandaughter, Grace, has been flying since she was 10 months old. Not that I’m happy to see her leave mind you, I hate not being a part of her life where I can scoop her up in my arms and hug her the way a grandmother is supposed to. But that’s just the way it is in our modern world I suppose. I will surely go visit them there in Cuenca, Ecuador, and have a fabulous new adventure myself when I do. I guess they are simply doing what I always loved, traveling and experiencing life with an eye towards adventure.

So, my goodbye to them sounds like this:

GO!

GO! often

GO! without reservations

GO! and don’t look back

GO! to escape

GO! to find something new

GO! when you are not supposed to

GO! to lead an interesting life

GO! again, and again and again

I’ll catch up with you Grace, further on down the road. Love Gramma C.

Wow… I just read the most disturbing talking point article. It was about cars and the car industry.

Posing the lead – in question,” Has America passed peak driving?” Why has driving and car ownership declined so drastically for 16 – 34 year olds? The article contends that cars no longer have the magic aura of freedom and power, and that they are unnecessary in urban areas as well as too expensive. They apparently associate driving with “brain numbing ” commutes across smoggy, congested highways. Brian Merchant, in Vice.com says this is not a temporary economic downturn, but rather a social revolution. He says drivers 55 and over, rooted in the  American car culture hungered to get away from their families, towns and neighborhoods. It meant getting to go where you wanted, when you wanted and meeting whom-so-ever you wanted. ( To which I said, damn straight!!)

BUT… and it’s a BIG BUT

He goes on to say, “…now you can do all that on the Internet, and for FREE! Hang out with your friends, play games, share music and photos! A new generation has found a faster and more convenient way to…

                                                                     (get ready, here it comes)

…move their brains around.”

I’m still reeling from this ridiculous conclusion and observation. Seriously?! They are ‘moving their brains around’? Oh my… I weep for the future. There is nothing that replaces first hand experience. Especially when it comes to travel. The Internet, Facebook, and other social media, while they are fun and immediate, are nothing more than the illusion of moving your brain around. If we were to believe this conclusion, why ever bother getting up to do anything other than bodily functions. ( and don’t even tell me you take your phone in there…eewwww )

This was such a sad and stupid article. I pray young people have not become so lazy, uninspired and out of touch with adventure and travel that the world will extend only as far as the text at the tips of their fingers.

I refuse to accept this viewpoint of a ‘social revolution’ to come. And if it is coming, I hope to influence as many young people as I can to see beyond this limited, brain numbing, illusion of what life has to offer them.

Getting ready to go exploring another National Forest next week and do some camping. This time, it’s The Lassen National Forest in northern California. It lies at the heart of one of the most fascinating areas of California, called the Crossroads. It’s where the granite of the Sierra Nevada, the lava of the Cascades, the Modoc Plateau and the sagebrush of the Great Basin all blend.

It’s the land of Ishi, the last survivor of the Yahi Yani Native American tribe, but the park is best known for it’s volcanic features.

Lassen Peak and Mount Shasta are part of the Ring of Fire, a series of active, dormant and extinct volcanos that extends around the Pacific Ocean. Lassen is a natural window into the earth’s past – and also into her future,  for fire and ice may come again.

I’ll be doing the Mills Creek Falls hike – rolling terrain, forest , flowers and a waterfall. A moderate hike.

     I’ll be listening for rumblings though …

( photo GO!  , canvas collage by Catherine Massaro)

There is a wonderful neighborhood at the edge of downtown Reno on Wells Street, that has a huge Hispanic centric street fair each year. My favorite part of the event is the magnificent march of the caballeros in their full equestrian Spanish regalia. Their outfits are only rivaled by the horses’ saddles and bridles. They are precision riders on equally precision trained horseflesh. I admire the history behind this group and the discipline it takes to keep their story alive. Our personal stories may not be so glorious, but they  can be enriched by having the courage to adventure into the unknown or unfamiliar now and then. Have an adventure – sit loosely in that saddle of life and take a ride down an unfamiliar trail. Let me know where you end up.

” Sit loosely in the saddle of life.”

(photo by Catherine Massaro)

“They should tell you when you’re born: have a suitcase heart, be ready to travel.”

                                                               Gabrielle Zevin

(photo by Catherine Massaro)