Riding that Train

Yes, I understand the allure of trains. I used to take one every week from R'mond to DC when I was doing that commute, and I also used to take them when I visited friends in Boston and Connecticut about 10 years ago. In college, too, I used to take them every so often to go home for the holidays or whatever. I love that feeling looking out the window and seeing passing towns you would never visit, but that look kind of warm and inviting. It's also interesting to see the people waiting for you to pass at the train crossings, sitting in their cars, often seeming bored. I recall locking eyes with some woman at one such crossing. It wasn't a sexual look, just a look (she was older and I was pretty young), and I felt a strange sadness. Yeah, the definitely give you a reflective feeling. That's cool you take them up to NYC--it's so much better than driving (although driving can give you a whole other meditative state, but one that I don't think is as wistful).

Of course, I used to work on the train when I was commuting for work. I was a workaholic at the time. I guess I wouldn't do that every commute, though--sometimes I would get a beer and a sandwich at Union Station and enjoy them on the ride home. Ah, liquor stores that sell single beers are awesome....

We were thinking of taking the train back East for Xmas, but it's just too damn expensive. One day we will--just not now.

Things are good in D_B. We have a couple of inches of snow from a storm on Saturday. It's pretty out on the prairie--mostly white, with dull brown cornstalk stubs poking up. I like the winter, despite the cold (it was negative 3 degrees this morning).

I'm working on getting some projects off my desk today, listening to Big Star MP3s on my computer. I wish I could stop in at the G* after work and we could go to get some Lebanese food. Ah, Lebanese places that serve single beers....