Even though I’m probably one of the laziest people on this planet and have been perfectly content sheltering in place, by the end of the 7th week even I needed to get out a bit.
The weather had finally become spring-like (yay), but the forecast indicated more freezing temperatures in the days ahead, so hubby and I decided to take a nice Sunday drive. Yes, even after 5 weeks of being together 24/7, we were still looking forward to sitting side by side in a car. You would’ve known?
Anyway.
We tried to think of places that were outdoor, with green space but not a lot of people. Considering that everyone’s been in lockdown for so long and that the social distancing requirements are still in effect, our options were understandably limited. Fortunately, we have a number of college campuses near us, and most of the students are not currently in residence.
Our first stop this Sunday was to the State University of New York at Buffalo – Amherst campus (a/k/a SUNYAB). This promised to be an ideal location since it’s not within walking distance of anyone’s neighborhood, thereby limiting casual foot traffic. We saw only a handful of students and a couple of families who had driven there, apparently for the same reason we did. No one was within 10 feet of anyone else.
The only problem was the geese. These little guys were total unintimated by humans and let me get within a foot of them, until the smaller one had enough and started hissing at me:
This guy really was that close!
Back Off!
One human couple did walk by (approximately 10 feet away) and looked at me curiously as I stood relaying instructions to the geese on just how I wished them to pose. (All righty then, let’s stay away from that lady with the camera- the virus has probably gotten in her brain.)
These geese weren’t the problem, though. The issue was that this particular campus has so many geese that it’s nearly impossible to walk anywhere without stepping in goose poop. After about 20 minutes, we gave up.
So, next we drove up along the Niagara River. We know from experience that the parks in the City of Tonawanda are always crowded, and those areas would be the perfect spot for anyone wishing to sit, either on a bench or in their car, and watch the water. Since I wanted to get out of the car to take photos and didn’t want to have to wear a mask, we decided to go a little further north. However, we didn’t wish to drive as far as Niagara Falls (which was also likely to e crowded).
There’s a smaller park/boat launch in North Tonawanda, which is now called Veteran’s Park. I think it’s also called (or used to be called) Fisherman’s Park – I know where the parks are, but unfortunately don’t know all their names. However, this particular park is north of the City of Tonawanda but not as far north as Gratwick Park (not that any of you know these river front parks, either, but just trying to clarify where we were.)
Veteran’s Park also had a fair number of visitors and not a lot of parking, but everyone seemed to be in their cars and the few people walking around were wearing masks and staying away from each other. We didn’t stay long, but I did get out to take a couple of pictures of the water:
Veteran’s Park – River View
Veteran’s Park – View from Dock
By then, I really needed to pee and definitely did not want to use a public restroom in a public park, so we headed home.
Naturally, the best photo I took all day was taken in my own back yard:
The hated Dandelion!
Sure, we all hate seeing dandelions in our yards, but they’re still beautiful – and they definitely mean spring/summer is on the way!
Enjoy the rest of your week. May the weather be spring-like wherever you are.
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love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Images by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio
Cordelia's Mom, Still 
Actually, we love seeing dandelions in our yard. They are pretty, the bunnies like to eat them and they remind us of both my father and father-in-law (both of whom liked to eat them). I also spent a little time at a small riverside park. I didn’t stay long because people were gathered in large groups, no masks and no distancing.
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Hubby commented that we should make dandelion wine. Sure have enough of them.
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Sounds like a lovely little adventure and some lovely pictures too…
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Thanks. How are things in Canada?
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Spring is springing day by day…
Governments are talking a slow roll out of things opening back up… I am hopefully optimistic that things will work out and we won’t get a second wave of illness…
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This post left me realizing that some of the most frequently used bathrooms for travelers are at restaurants. Until they open up, there’s going to be a lot of peeing by the side of the road, or people taking very short trips so they can return home quickly.
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A restaurant restroom I maybe could have handled, but these were park restrooms – which are usually pretty bad under normal conditions.
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Yeah you gotta watch out for Canadians – even our geese can be mean! 😀
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Any geese can be mean. I was amused when that one started hissing at me, but she didn’t seem like she really wanted to attack. Until her mate actually honked at me, at which point we went on our way.
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Western NY person to another “It was a warm weekend with yesterday reaching 76 degrees. We sure deserved good weather. I am tired of being cooped up, inside.”
Mother Nature and Karma are watching from above. Mother Nature says, “hold my beer.”
Points finger at earth and shoots.
Viola… freeze warning for tonight with possible snow this weekend….
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Typical WNY. Enjoy it while we can.
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I just want to walk along the river and take a few pictures. I don’t need company. I just need to NOT be in the house!
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I hear you. Unfortunately, everyone else also wants to get out of the house and walk along the river.
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Business park geese are fearless. It can make getting from the parking lot to your office in the morning a challenging experience. They LIKE people. People feed them and shovel the snow in the winter. What more could a goose want?
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Well, apparently they don’t especially want some old lady taking photos of them when they’re trying to eat the grass.
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I’m glad to hear you and hubby were able to enjoy some outside time on Sunday, CM. It was the one really nice day here, too, of course, and we walked at the lake park, and were able to keep our distance from everybody else there. I love your photos!
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Thanks, Mark. It was really good to get out for a change.
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Great shots, CM! I geese everything is gonna be alright! ♡ฅ(ᐤˊ꒳ฅˋᐤ♪)
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LOL. Sure hope so.
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