On a rare day out to Niagara Falls, Nikki and I went Totally Tourist. We went to view the Monarch Butterfly display at the horticultural gardens. After spending an hour or so wandering there, we crossed the road and meandered along the parkway that runs along the Niagara river (It’s not actually a river) upstream of the falls, a few tens of metres from Table Rock. Not a long walk. But enough.
Large rock islands emerge or submerge depending on the current (pun intended) water level. Table rocks, so to speak. The Niagara river, at the precipice of the falls, is surprisingly shallow. If not for the sheer speed and force of water, it would be easy to walk across. Please, please, don’t even think of trying it. You would not make it. But gulls? Gulls have different abilities.
They can fly, for one. They don’t have to walk. They have zero fear of being swept over the falls. They can also take advantage of those islands as they appear and disappear. Little rock hoppers, they are.
Completely unfazed by the thunderous volume or the chaotic maelstrom inches from them, they gather and wait. And they fish. They swoop and dive and sometimes literally grab falling fish from the very falls in mid air. It’s truly amazing to watch as they do it over and over again with surgical precision, right through that powerful, punishing downpour. Niagara Falls is a great place to be a gull. It is no place to be a fish.
Thinks…
Living so close to Niagara Falls, it really is a shame that we don’t make it out here very often. People around here kind of take this place for granted. It’s only thirty minutes up the road, we can go any time. And so, as is the way of the human race, we tend not to bother. Tomorrow, we think. Which turns into next week. Next month. Next year. I know a couple in their eighties that have never been. They intend to. Some day. Eighty years without seeing the majesty of Niagara Falls. Each to their own, of course. I’m certain there are places close to wherever you live that you always meant to see. Some day. As a person driven to see what is over the next horizon, I cannot even imagine that for myself. I will drag myself from a perfectly good bed containing a perfectly wonderful wife, just to see a sunrise.
Be like a gull. As the Latin phrase goes: Carpe Diem. Seize the fish. Pun intended. 😉