Heading to Buffalo...

Or should I say “shuffling off to Buffalo”? What is that from? 42nd Street? Yeah, I think it’s 42nd Street. And if I remember correctly, the two people “shuffling off to Buffalo” were on their honeymoon… seriously, if you’re spending your honeymoon in Buffalo, you are painfully lacking in imagination. Or perhaps they weren’t referring to Buffalo, New York, in that show. Maybe it was Buffalo in the south of France. Or that tropical island called Buffalo out in the middle of the Pacific…

I, however, am heading to Buffalo, New York, for my grandparents’ 65th anniversary party. My grandparents are not like the stereotypical retired people in this country who head down to Florida as soon as empty-nest syndrome sets in. No, they have tenaciously remained for years in the same log cabin they built with their own hands when my mom was a girl. My 91-year-old grandfather still plows his own driveway when the snow piles up every year, and during the summer, he and my grandmother grow vegetables in their garden. And if I’D built a log cabin with my own hands, I’d probably never want to leave it, either.

I think it’s funny that when you visit the Weather Channel’s website and search for the forecast for Buffalo, it pops up with an option to “get the beach forecast.” The beach forecast. For Buffalo. The one in New York. Not Buffalo in the south of France. I can’t remember ever visiting the “beach” in Buffalo when I was a kid. But maybe that’s because we had a pool in our backyard. And yes, we DID use the pool quite frequently during the summer. I’ve always thought it was interesting how Buffalo is notorious for its snowfall, but it’s the summers I remember most. If I’d stayed much longer than the nine years I spent there, I probably would’ve been old enough to start helping with the driveway shoveling. THEN I would’ve remembered the winters…

Family members aside, I can’t imagine a reason I’d want to live in Buffalo today. I’m kind of grateful that my parents moved away when we did, so I was able to explore a couple different parts of the country. It isn’t the cold weather in Buffalo that I find so unappealing – New York City gets plenty cold, and I love it… Chicago is downright freezing, but I think it’s a great city – no, I can’t really put my finger on it, but Buffalo never seemed to have that “spirit” you find within certain cities. It’s probably just my personal preferences – I imagine cites, like people, possess qualities we either click with, or we don’t. I don’t happen to click with Buffalo… Buffalo and I don’t have much chemistry. In fact, I’m seeing several other cities behind Buffalo’s back.

Don’t tell Buffalo…

Someplace other than Buffalo...