. . . Two for the Show, Three to Get Ready, and Four Let’s Go. Who came up with this saying? It came to mind and I pictured two individuals swinging a small child by the arms and legs, back and forth, like a hammock. They at the same time then let go. Of course she’d land on something soft, then laughing, get up and beg the swingers to do this again. That who I imagine could have been me. I was tossed into the then warm water of Lake Ontario.

My sister Eleanor told me yesterday that someone recently toppled the statue of Frederick Douglass, the slave abolitionist. The statue was in Maplewood Park, in Rochester, NY. This was most likely in response to statues glorifying those who were pro-slavery. This is reverse logic.

Maplewood Park was close to the area where we lived. In the winters, we’d go and spend hours on the sledding hill. In the summers, we’d go there and have picnics. El said that unbeknownst to us, the park was an underground railroad site. Slaves boarded boats in the Lower Falls area of the Genesee River, and down river they got on other boats where they then were taken across Lake Ontario. This makes perfect sense to me.

Ryder and Shadow on the stairs

I initially made light of El’s discovery, but after I got to thinking about it, I realized that she was right. We should have learned about this very important part of history when we were in school. Neither of us heard any mention of it. Had we been told about this history, Maplewood Park would have had more significance to us than it did. We might not have considered the enormity of this as children, but we most certainly would have when we became adults.

In general, Rochester has a rich and varied history. In addition to being a site on the underground railroad, so much of the woman’s rights movement took place here. I’d like to go back there now and look at the area anew. It’s been so long since I’ve been back there that it would seem like I was visiting someplace that I’d never been before. Of course, I’d like to go there with my sister. The virus situation being the way it is, I doubt that I’ll be going there anytime soon.

In our lives there are going to remain two distinct time periods: the pre- and post-COVID eras. There will be the time when we didn’t have to wear face masks, and then the time when we did. This could mean the end of our species as the way we know it. I keep thinking that either this virus will mutate, or another will surface. Then we’ll all be toast.

Tomorrow I’m going to be embarking on Part II of my bicycle trek, that is if the weather holds. Today it was variable. We were out and about, and here it poured. We saw the storm at the distance. Got home, and the drainage pit outside the horse pen was filled with water.

I am going to have to keep my distance from people. Odd, I used to bicycle tour in order to meet people, now this is reverse logic.

Next: 192. 7/ 11/20: Part II: The First Day