The talk of Coronavirus and an ever active imagination finally got to me today and I decided to run away for awhile. After a quick trip to the dentist this morning I grabbed a coffee at The Coffee Shop and pointed my car northward. I followed a familiar route to a place I go for peace and quiet. I got to Abbey of the Genesee about an hour later and made my way to the chapel. Much to my chagrin there were workman who had covered the altar and the vicinity in plastic. My favorite place to sit and pray was not very peaceful this morning. Nonetheless, I stayed a bit and then walked to the adjoining bread store. I got my wife some wonderful bar soap made by a religious community of women, got a gluten free cookie and some dark chocolate biscotti. I did manage to find a quiet part of the abbey to sit and chill.
The sun shone bright outside and eventually I made my way to nearby Letchworth State Park on my return journey home. I stopped in the park to walk along the Genesee River and to witness the power of the water thundering over the Middle and Upper Fals. It was a balmy 63 degrees today. That’s quite uncommon for March 9 in Western New York. I took some pictures and shared them on Instagram, visited with a friend and then made my way home. I hear the voice of my creator in the silence of the trees, the river and in the quiet of this monastery. The Genesee River gorge is my cathedral. Its quiet beauty is ageless. I thought of the indigenous people who walked this land hundreds and thousands of years before the white man came.