The distance from Batavia N.Y. to "Uncle" Bud's house is almost exactly 200 miles. This meant, I thought, that even with a single mass that didn't start until 11:30 I could make a side trip to Niagra Falls, then be in Bud's driveway by late afternoon. My long day yesterday had drawn me within distance to arrive a day early!
Before I go any further, let me through in something personal, for any of you who do not know Uncle Bud. Back in October of 1972 I was discharged from the Navy and moved to the Cleveland Ohio area, taking a job as an electric motor repairman in the "little" town of Mentor, about 30 miles east of Cleveland. It was a small shop so I quickly met the 6 people that worked there. Among them was a man named Bud Scott, to whom I was quickly drawn. Bud never had a down day. If you didn't have a smile he'd lone you one of his. He was outgoing, funny, personable, and short, in many ways the opposite of how I was at that point. We hit it off and became best friends. Bud had a Ike, comment or one liner for every occasion. He used to tell people that he and I made the perfect team because of our height difference. I'd tell him when it was raining and he'd tell me when it was a flood! I soon met his wonderful wife Shirley who treated me as if I was a long lost relative. They had two young daughters, Sandy and Suzie.
Shortly before I got married Betty and I met with Bud and Shirley. Betty and Shirley were like peas in a pod, friendly, shy, yet always anxious to do whatever needed to be done. Shirley was the big sister Betty never had. This helped immensely in our early years as Betty had never been away from home for any period of time and we were to be living all the way across Cleveland from her family. Bud was Best Man at my wedding and, if Betty didn't already have three sisters, Shirley would have been a part of the ceremony too.
After we were married and began our family the relationship grew even deeper. Betty and Shirley talked frequently and, if Betty ever had a question, she knew where to go for help. Sandy, and eventually Suzie, baby sat for our brood eventually. Because we were always with the Scott's, the question came up - what should our kids call them. Mr. and Mrs. Scott was much to formal and Betty would never allow her children to address a grown-up by their first name. So "Uncle Bud and Aunt Shirley" became a constant part of our lives.
When we moved to Idaho there were two people that came to help us load the truck and see us off. No family, just Uncle Bud and Aunt Shirley. They were one of the few couples we stayed in touch with after moving. As often happens, time eventually drew us apart, or more accurately, the lack of time drew us apart. As we were always busy with "things", we did not stay in constant contact but thought of them often. On the few occasions when we returned to see family in Cleveland, we always tried, sometimes successfully, to get together with the Scott's.
When Betty passed away one of the first calls I made was to Bud and Shirley. They were a great comfort to me. Unfortunately, last November, almost exactly a year after Betty passed away, Shirley joined her. Bud and Shirley had been married for 59 years and Betty and I were fortunate to know and love them for over 40 of those years.
I will be spending some time with Bud this week and may or may not be able to figure out how to post a blog during that time.
As for today when I turned off of the N.Y. Turnpike, the signs told me I was only 16 miles from my destination. I had rationalized that no trip of the perimeter of the lower 48 would be complete without a visit to perhaps the most iconic part of that perimeter. Without a picture of the falls people would start o rumble about the authenticity of my trip, like they still do about whether or not Neil Armstrong actually went to the moon, except on a much grander scale. The mileage did not tell the story however. It was a bright, warm, sunny Sunday afternoon on a Holiday Weekend. Everyone who was anyone, and most of those like me that are no one, was sitting in traffic. After an our of inching forward I became concerned about my air cooled engine over heating. So with the (full) parking lot almost in site I turned right, giving in once again to my inability to tolerate large gatherings of people, and headed back out of town.
I went through beautiful downtown Buffalo (nobody home) and hopped on the turnpike again towards Erie. I eventually stopped to take a break at a rest area near the Pennsylvania border. Even at this remote location there were people everywhere (okay, I need to tell you this. I was typing this sentence and when I entered the word "people", my I-Pad self corrected and wrote "expletive". Do I have Freudian spell check?).
Because of my late start and all of the wasted time in traffic it was 4:00 and I was still closer to Buffalo than to Erie. So I called Bud and told him I would arrive tomorrow morning and I would get a room near Erie.
Shortly thereafter, I crossed into Pennsylvania, then found a place for the night.
So tomorrow I'll be at Bud's. He has Internet service but doesn't know how to use it. The two of us are like peas in a pod!
Tell uncle Bud hi! Hope you get to enjoy fireworks... of course Fairport Harbor is probably the last place you'll want to go if you want to avoid crowds ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnd don't worry about missing Niagra Falls. Border patrol has a habit of detaining people who are headed to Mentor ;-)
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