CAUGHT BY THE TRAIN

I like trains.  I always have.  Trains have played significant roles in my life over the years.  When I was a little girl my father traveled a lot by train.  My nose still remembers the unforgettable smell of the steam engine at the train station when we sent him off on a trip or welcomed him home.  He had a love of trains, too, and took me on Sunday afternoon excursions to watch how the steam engine got filled with water.  We traveled with him occasionally and some trips were long enough to spend the night in a “compartment” with a bed.

When Fred and I were first married our town house north of Detroit backed up to a track.  We got so used to the train coming by we sometimes didn’t notice it at all—except when it was off schedule and we would wonder why.  Those were still the times when trains had a caboose and a person who waved at you as the train whipped by.

Once, when Fred was transferred by his employer to a new city, we went to the new location to look for a home and the airline pilots went on strike.  When it was time to return to pack up our belongings, we had to take a fairly long, overnight train trip and Fred was very unhappy.  I, on the other hand, was in “train heaven.”  The next morning while my husband was grumpy and out of sorts from little sleep, I talked about how the soft rocking of the train kept me in a deep, restful sleep.  Needless to say, we never traveled by train again.  

I took our three children on a way-too-brief train trip back in the early 70s from our home in south-central Michigan to Chicago to meet Fred, who had driven ahead to attend a conference.  There was no need to sleep on the trip, but we did have fun with the luxurious treat of eating in the “dining car.”  I regret the three of them never had an opportunity to go on a much longer, sleepover on a train before those trips became almost obsolete.  But, like their father, they like the fast track of transportation today and would choose a bag of peanuts on an airplane over the unique experience of eating on a train.  

  

I live in a central Texas Hill Country town and we have trains.  Boy, do we have trains.  Actually, there are only two major tracks that come through town with a couple of spurs that branch off in other directions.  But those two tracks cross every major street in every direction, except for the street with the new overpass so emergency vehicles and pregnant women can get to the hospital faster.  Being stopped by a train is a way of life here.  And, that’s just fine with me.  I line up with everyone else and think about what the train teaches us. 

Is it empty?  Why?  What should it be carrying?  An empty train is costing someone a lot of money and that’s not good for the economy.  Is it a full train?  A full train is the sign of a healthy business climate.  Trains moving goods around the country should be a sigh of relief to a country suffering from some serious financial woes.  Thank you, I am more than willing to sit and give a slow, full train the right of way – even though there is no guy in a caboose to wave at me.  

No need to hurry.  I sit and read the artwork on the box cars and wonder if my friend, who is an authority on gang behavior, could translate the graffiti for me.  I see the numbers on the side and am reminded about my father’s college roommate, who could add them up in his head as the train passed and give his friends the total when the train was gone.  He was tested on this over and over and was always right, and later became a top executive at a major automotive company.  Go figure! 

When the trains are long and slow I love the slow pace introduced into everyone’s life.  I am sure it frustrates some residents, but “What’s the hurry?”  I am always more in tune with the relaxed tempo of life and enjoy watching how people spend their time as the train lumbers by.  Frequently, doors will open and friends will spend time leaning casually on their cars and catching up with each other across the tops of other vehicles.  Morning papers are read or re-read, phone calls and texts received and returned, and make up refreshed.  I watch some drivers stretch their arms toward the roofs of their cars and move their heads from side to side.  Could this be a demonstration of “train stop aerobics?”  I grab my ever-present Kindle from my bag and settle in to enjoy some rare, middle-of-the-day reading time.  Like I said, “What’s the hurry?”

Too much of life is hurry, hurry, hurry.  No matter what happens to slow you down during your day, you’ll still get to your destination.  Perhaps you’re a smidge later than anticipated.  But in our town you can always say “caught by a train” as you fly in the door and everyone just smiles and understands. 

 

So when the fast pace of your life is slowed down a bit, use the time to people watch, make a phone call, freshen your nail polish, spend a few extra moments talking with a friend, enjoy your Kindle.   Everything will still get done and when you get to an appointment a little late tell everyone, “caught by a train.”  It will make no sense at all unless you live in my town.  But it will be a lot of fun watching everyone’s face when you explain why you’re late.

Terri Clamons, author
Corporate Prince, ebook at synergEbooks, amazon, and The Kindle Store

The Toy Room, ebook and paperback at wingsepress and amazon, ebook at The Kindle Store

Visit my website at http://www.terriclamons.com