Somewhere Over The Rainbow...

This week I didn’t have a clear plan for an adventure, but I knew I had the day off on Wednesday, so anything was possible.   When I woke up that morning the sun was shining brightly through my bedroom window, the trees outside casting a dancing lacework of shadows and light on my walls and floor.  It was a sunny, clear blue sky type of day.  The type we haven’t seen here in Toronto for many months now, so even though I was thinking about having a productive day, I couldn’t bare the thought of staying inside when there was so much light, and hope and life outside for the first time in a long time. Vitamin D was calling me! 

I had a vague plan to do some lyric writing and also some revision of my Spanish verbs in preparation for my lesson the next day.  But instead of wandering down to a local café to work, (like I always do), I made the spontaneous decision to get out of the city and go somewhere I hadn’t been before.  

I jumped out of bed, and went straight to my computer and booked an online bus ticket to Niagara Falls.  I’ve been meaning to check them out ever since I moved to Toronto, but never had the chance.  I had an hour to get to the bus terminal, just enough time to strip off my PJs, throw on some clothes, gather my books, brush my teeth, and grab an apple for the road. I was out the door in no time and on my merry way. 

As it turned out, a bus trip to Niagara was an ideal way to work on my Spanish comprehension.  The bus was full of Latinos!  I spent the 2 hour bus ride eaves dropping on neighbouring conversations, trying to see if I could get a grasp of what they were saying.  I managed to pick out a few words and phrases here and there, but I was sad to discover that 6 months of studying Spanish has not yet amounted to much understanding out in the real world.  The Spanish people sitting next to me seemed to be talking in turbo mode compared to the slow pace at which we speak in class.  I’ve got a 'largo' way to go!

After a while, my motion sick pills kicked in, so I fell asleep for the last part of the journey.  I woke up to the grim looking ghost town that is Niagara.  You can tell that once upon a time it was a thriving place, but that was not the case now; the main street was full of empty store fronts, and surrounding the towns hub, there were a bunch of dilapidated historical buildings.  Sad to think how things can change so drastically with time, but I guess with development the commercial centre moved a little closer to the falls.

   

I decided to walk there. I was in no rush, and wanted to make the most of the sunshine and get a sense of the place.  The bus driver told me it would take about 30 minutes at a leisurely pace.  I managed to find my way down to the riverside and followed the brick and wrought iron wall all the way to the falls.  There weren’t too many cars on the road that day, so it was a fairly quiet and peaceful stroll, except for the occasional sounds of people hammering away at their garden renovations in preparation for summer. 

Halfway there, a couple of guys who looked to be dressed like security guards approached me with big smiles.  It turned out they were gatekeepers for heaven; a couple of Mormon guys trying to convince me to check out their church. I politely thanked them for the offer, but explained I was really just there to see the falls.  They were sweet, and I appreciated their friendliness since I was alone in an unfamiliar place. 

The falls really were quite impressive. I enjoyed approaching them from a distance and slowly coming to appreciate their magnificence.  I was especially impressed by the emerald green colour of the river.

On the other hand, I found the tourist development surrounding the area pretty ghastly.  It was about as tacky as a tourist trap can get.  Isn’t it strange how humans celebrate rare and beautiful natural phenomena by imposing fake, plastic, commercial infrastructure onto the landscape?  Good old capitalism leaving its ugly mark on every precious corner of the earth...  

Nonetheless, after staring at the falls for quite some time, and taking in their grandeur, I decided to use commercialism to my advantage and had lunch in the restaurant that overlooks the landscape.  It was fun sitting there, writing in my journal and working on my Spanish verbs with such a spectacular view.   It sure beat looking out at busy traffic from a Queen Street café. 

On one of the occasions I shifted my gaze from my books to the view outside, I noticed a beautiful double rainbow had formed just above the falls.  I got excited, believing maybe it was a special event.  But apparently it’s a really common occurrence on a sunny day because of all the mist being generated by the falls.  I almost forgot there was a simple, predictable scientific explanation for the occurrence of rainbows.  Sometimes my romantic heart takes precedence over my rational brain, but scientific explanations can be so boring compared to those you can conjure up in your  imagination, don’t you think?  

By the way, the word for rainbow in Spanish is Arcoiris – this comes from the Latin words 'arco' meaning 'bow' and  'iris' the Goddess of the sky in Greek mythology. Cool hey? I learnt that in class the next day when I was telling everyone in broken Spanish what I had done the day before.   

Anyway, sitting there in the café, looking out at the view, sent me off into a long day dream about what it must have been like for the ancient tribes that once lived there.  I tried to imagine trudging for miles through a forest, exploring with my fellow tribe members  with no expectation and suddenly stumbling across the falls for the first time.  How incredible that must have been?! Surrounded only by nature, no roads, no buildings, no noise...I’m sure they could probably hear the sounds of the falls long before they approached them.

When the day was done, after a long bus ride towards the sunset and then home, I tried to do a bit of research about the history of Niagara and the indigenous tribes from that region.  

I wanted to know what they thought of the falls, how did they explain it, what did they believe about the rainbows that they must have encountered there?  I couldn't find anything very concrete regarding the ancient mythology, though one account suggested the area was sacred and rainbows were believed to be a bridge between the human world and the world of the Gods. Legend has it that the Thunderbird ruled the upper world and a horned serpent lived in the underworld, and the falls represented some sort of cosmic battle between the two, a war between good and evil, right and wrong.  Rainbows were seen as a bridge to the after life or 'happy hunting ground'.   

Following that research I decided to revisit the science behind a rainbow, since I hadn't thought about it since primary school.  I read a couple of explanations that involved a lot of algebra and talk about triangles and the importance of 42 degrees. I have to admit, even with my adult mind, I still can't quite comprehend how light is refracted by a water drop and separated into beams of colour.  The explanation of native tribes somehow makes a lot more sense to my artist brain. 

All in all, it was a beautiful day, a spontaneous adventure to a tourist  destination that led my curiosity to a place 'somewhere over the rainbow'. On that note, heres a quick rendition of one of my favourite songs about a rainbow, one that has always resonated with my heart :)

Hasta pronto mis amigos!

NNxx