ticket to ride

I road the train from NYC back to DC and once again found myself looking out the window. Landscape changing from second to second, I thought about how excited my grandparents used to be each time they boarded the Metroliner to Jersey when I was younger. Riding that extra-fare train was a classy experience to them; I wondered if they watched the northeast corridor passing by as the train headed up and down the rails.

Times and the view from my window in the quiet car have certainly changed since then. The Acela, which replaced the Metroliner, is a convenience that gets me from one location to another faster than the regional and is not so classy to me, though I'm not at all complaining. When I get the Red Cap to take me to it before regular boarding, I enjoy walking through the deserted cars, seats quietly waiting to invite this passenger to sit down wherever she wishes. I oblige, get settled, plug into Pandora, and relax into the peace found when someone else does the driving. On occasion I read or play a word game on my iPad, try my darnedest not to work; watching the cities, buildings, homes, waters, woods and wilderness more often than not captures my attention and holds it for the duration of the ride. As I look outside, lost in thought, I’m treated to the art of negligence, renewal, the forgotten, and on this trip an egret standing in the swamp, a blue jay sitting on a tree, and a small forest of pink tree trunks! I snapped away with my iPhone as the train sped along...

One unplanned day, I’ll pack a picnic, my camera, and a light bag, and buy a ticket to ride a route I've never taken to check out a new landscape. Some moment in the future, I’ll hop a flight to India where I'll catch the Maharaja Express for the adventure of a lifetime; I wait with great anticipation for that day. Maybe I'll see you there or somewhere on the rails, so…

keep your peepers open!®