I’m not very inspired by this weeks word though I do love trains minus living near a stretch of tracks that has many crossings. *grumble* What’s funny about the tracks I currently live near is that right next to them is a sign that reads, “Sound ordinance strongly enforced”. I shit you not. I’ll have to get a picture of that sign someday.
My senior year of high school I used to play hooky all the time and go to a park that was about three miles from where I lived. At this particular park there was an overpass over the tracks which lead to the “beach”. I use the word beach loosely because this was in WA state and the beaches are quite sad - not as sad as those in Alaska, but I digress. I would hang out alone on this overpass and watch the freight trains travel below me. At this spot they would sometimes go very slow and I kept trying to work up the courage to hitch a ride and see where it would take me.
I moved to Michigan three days after graduation and after signing up for the Navy. My first train ride was when I was shipped off to boot camp from Michigan to Great Mistakes Great Lakes Illinois. Despite that I still love trains. It probably helped that anytime we had liberty in boot camp it was the train that also took us away to Chicago for the day.
October 24th, 2007 at 8:16am
I would never want to live close to tracks, but I do like the sound of a train in the distance at night.
October 24th, 2007 at 11:55am
You may not have felt inspired by the theme but you wrote a moving piece about the role of trains in your life.
October 26th, 2007 at 12:59am
Skittles, yeah I don’t think most people want to live so close to train tracks but it’s the area we could afford. I do like the sound in the distance like you I just wish I wasn’t near so many crossings where they have to blow their horns.
Andree, thank you. I guess I had more to say about trains than I thought