The Stroller of Time

Hmmm. I am going to have something to say about the Rolling Stone cover but want to ruminate over my thoughts more before writing. I read the article in R.S.. Yet, after jumping into the fray of the Trayvon Martin case yesterday, I need to alternate to something less flammable. Maybe odd/even days on controversial versus merely observational.

When in Niagara Falls, I saw many families with kids in strollers. Young families with infants and toddlers seemed to be the main demographic. There were some families with teens--and their bored looks around...like "OK, we have seen the Falls. Can I now do something interesting like text my friends OMG?" Another demographic were Indian and Chinese families. Indians tend to bring all of the generations together as a group and what appear to be relatives. Grandfather, Grandmother, Aunts, Uncles, and etc. A contingent. A caravan.

Apparently the Japanese used to come in droves but now with the Japanese economy sputtering and India and China on full throttle, the Japanese tourists are at a low ebb. As evidence by the only authentic sushi restaurant in town being completely deserted. An establishment that was designed to cater to the Japanese visitors. And yes, many Indian restaurants were abuzz. I wanted to go to the sushi place but decided to join my family to eat at a good buffet in the tallest building in Niagara Falls Canada. It was like the Seattle Space Needle. A giant Lazy Susan in the Sky.

Most of the eateries in Niagara Falls Canada are either chains or typical tourist traps where the cheese is two to three times as expensive as elsewhere. We ate a very average meal at the Macaroni Grill that had more taxes on it than food items. A sub-par dining experience to cater to the Lowest Common Denominator at the Greatest Possible Price without setting off a gagging experience of the wallet. A good reminder of how "free" health care and the other bennies of socialism actually cost a lot. It is just a matter of when you pay. Every time I have been in Canada, I have read a newspaper article excoriating the Canadian Health Care system. Sick people waiting months for routine procedures.

And the Canadian State Store Liquor and Wine operations make Pennsylvania's look absolutely progressive.  

As I ate and drank and smoked a Cuban cigar one evening, I had a general existential sensation. In thirty years, the kids in strollers would be bringing their kids to Niagara Falls and roll them around. The great cycle on four wheels of existence through time. It made me reflect on life on the eating and drinking level and how easy it is to forget God. Pass the crab legs.

In the times of Noah, "People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all." It does not sound like a particularly rebellious time (no worse than ours), for marriage--the foundation for Civil society--was in full operation. Noah's contemporaries were not fornicating and having illicit orgies. They were settling down into matrimonial bliss, having kids, buying strollers. And then the Flood came and destroyed them all.

Why? It appears that they lacked gratitude, loving the gifts more than the giver--God.