We thought we might miss it. But the traffic cooperated and we arrived at the station about 15 minutes before the train was to leave. Then we looked at the board. The estimate for arrival of the train was 3:20. The timetable said it should leave at 1:15. It was late. It would be almost 6:00 before the train finally left the station. So we went over to a corner of the station and sat down to read on the long wooden benches, now mostly empty.
A train station is seldom the busy hub of activity that an airport is. I’m not talking about commuter stations, the short-run lines that ferry people into and out of cities every day for their 9-to-5. I’m talking about old-fashioned train stations. They are usually found in the older section of cities. They’ve been there for decades, and many are not aging well.
We thought it might be fun. We were visiting relatives in the Pacific Northwest. Fly into Portland, take the train up to Seattle, visit, take the train back, visit, fly home. I'd never ridden on a train for a distance, only the commuter lines. Sounded like fun.
I read my book in the station for a while. Then I looked around. There are two kinds of people who ride trains. People who can't afford to fly and people who like to ride on trains. (OK, there's a third kind, those who are afraid of flying). I saw both kinds. There was a young woman with a well-worn backpack and her male companion. Leather jacket, non-natural colored hair, worn blue jeans - I had them pegged for students. There was the old guy with his dog. I guess maybe you can take your dog on the train, it wasn't a guide dog of any kind. This was a different class of traveller than you see in the airports. The luggage doesn't match, most of it is not on wheels. The clothes are generally more worn. The people tend to sit as far apart on the long wooden benches as possible. Some sleep.
Then there were the enthusiasts. There were two retired guys who weren't even there to ride, they just wanted to see our train come into the station. So too with the grandmother and her 5-year old grandson. But he was getting fidgety on the bench, waiting. The boy's mother discovered that the next stop was only about 30 miles away and the ticket was only a few bucks. Time became the boy's friend as they decided to get on the train and ride it up the line a stop. Much better than just looking. Mom would drive up and pick them up. (Mom would get there first, I'm thinking).
Finally the train arrived. The conductor gave us a colored scrap of paper on which he'd hand-written our seat assignment. We carried our bags onto the train, put the large ones in the storage rack at the front of the car, and climbed the stairs to the seating level. We were on the double-decker Coast Starlight train. It had started in LA several days before and the trip to Seattle was the last leg. They say the trip takes 35 hours, but that's not what I saw. There were sleeping cars and a dining car and a lounge. This was rail travel.
Being up on the second level, you can't hear the wheels. On the subway and commuter rails, sometimes all you CAN hear are the wheels. But this was different. It was like you were just gliding along. It was peaceful. You could get up, walk around, go for a snack. There was way more leg room than on an airplane. And there were no seat belt signs.
It was a very different experience. We went down to the dining car and had supper as we watched the sun set. I saw the lights of the Tacoma Narrows bridge go by. Very pretty. The trip back, being in the daylight, was much more dramatic. We got to see mountains and the coast. Ahhhh.
Right now I could use a train ride. Not to Seattle, but to next year. You may have noticed that I haven't written my blog for a few weeks. Life is racing by. The days blur into one another. Already it's Wednesday - no blog. Now, I've partly done it to myself, and I guess I can partly blame God. He's the one who wanted me to transition from high tech to vocational ministry. But since he's a loving God, I'm not sure that the way I'm going about it is what he had in mind - working full time, going to seminary, having no spare time.
During the holidays I realized that I don't necessarily have to look at the process serially - go to school, get a job. If ministry is God-empowered, and He wants me to do it, then maybe I can rely on Him more and on school less. He certainly doesn't want me to burn out before I even start. I'm still working this one out.
I just need to sit for a while. So, rather than once a week, you'll see new posts as I get to them. Keep checking, I'll put one here eventually.
You'd think that after 51 years I'd have life figured out. I certainly thought that at 15. But the hard reality is, you probably never have it completely figured out - and some of us more that others.
Those of you who know me know what the "bus principle" is. Do your job in such a way that if you get hit by a bus tomorrow, the company can carry on. There is a corollary: Live your life so you won't regret your choices. You can't live always looking to tomorrow. Today must bring some joy with it as well. It's ok to have goals, but enjoy the trip.
Anyone seen a train station around?
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