Day 38, Leaving a Bit of My Heart in Buffalo

Buffalo was once the 8th largest city in the United States. While it is still the 2nd largest city in New York State, it now ranks 89th in  US city size. Once the "City of Light," it was the first US city to have electric street lights, it is now a mere shadow of its former grandeur. 

There are bright spots, like the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. It is one of the oldest art galleries in the nation. Over the years, it has built its collection and reputation by acquiring art of modern and contemporary artists.

We last visited the gallery with my mom and Colleen and Alex. Alex has a very good understanding of art and acted as my mom's personal guide. 😊♥️ That was right before they closed for major renovation.

In the interim, they have opened an exhibition space in a building in a neighborhood that has seen better days. Hervé Tullet: Shape and Color is the current exhibit. It is so joyful. Primary colors, shapes, and movement. He encourages viewers to participate by making their own art which is also displayed. He has a number of lessons teachers can totally use. For my teacher friends, some of his art reminded me of Dot Day. It was especially fun to visit this exhibit with my friend, Shaun, who is an artist and jewelry designer. You could almost see the wheels turning as she took inspiration from the exhibit.

A lot of manufacturing that helped make Buffalo successful has shut its doors or moved out. The building that the exhibit was in used to be part of Houdaille Industries. All that remains now is a smokestack, a few buildings, and stories of how it was the target of one of the first Leveraged Buy Outs in 1979.

After putting many miles on the car just driving and reminiscing, we went back to to campground to await the afternoon thunderstorm that had been predicted. Lucky for us, it decided to dump the water somewhere else.

Sunset was still hours away and it was time to do something active. I haven't been on my bike since the fall in Idaho. Buffalo suburbs have many miles of rail trails, which is weird since we've seen very few people riding bikes. Still, one 10.6 mile section of paved trail isn't too far from the campground so we headed there.

It mostly skirts suburbs but also travels through some farming areas, including a large dairy farm. The humidity makes the smells all that much more pungent.

It has been really nice to be in the Buffalo metropolitan area. It feels weird leaving tomorrow not knowing when I might be back. I often tell people Buffalo is a nice place to be from. And while that is still true, it's also a nice place to be.