....now arriving on Track Eleven....

If you are of my generation and state, you may remember The Casey Jones show....with it's opening scenes showing trains moving across trainyards and the catchy jingle:
"Come all you rounders and you're bound to hear
A story about a great engineer
hup - Casey Jones was the rounder's name
On a six-gauge wheeler boys he won his fame...
Your attention please....
Now arriving on Track 11.....(the show was on Channel 11...)
Board...Board...Board"
At least those are the words I remember in my child-brain.
SO why, all these many years later, am I sitting aboard Amtrak, watching the pampas grass waving at me from inside a chain link fence, watching ducks swim on a water tank, watching fresh buildings and rotting hulks on the byways of America?
I love riding the train.
I'd ridden trains all over Europe, in Mexico and in Japan. But it never even occurred to me to try train travel in the US, until a few years back when friend and colleague Jolane Sundstrom suggested in in a passing conversation. Jolane and her husband John have travelled all over the world, recently returning from a trip to Nepal. Their daughter is attending college out West, and she takes the Empire Building back and forth regularly. Jolane served as a great resource for all of my many questions:
*Is it cheaper than flying?
*Where can you sleep?
*Do you have to worry about theft?
and many more. After a few of the answers (*sometimes cheaper, sometimes more expensive; in a sleeper car or just in coach, and really with some common sense, no), I decided to give it a try.
My first rail adventure was to Baltimore, MD; to attend the National Art Education Association conference. Train travel does take quite bit longer than flying, so I took two personal days on either end of the adventure, and I ... was ... hooked....
On that first trip, I went coach the entire way, and slept in my seat. Not uncomfortable, just like sleeping in a big easy chair. But the next time, I bought a couchette, and discovered "the" way to go. You have your own little cabin, with chairs that fold down into a bed (and one above too if you have company!), with a bathroom down the hall (or even sometimes IN the cabin with you). Everything is pretty vintage 1970's; remember, we have invested NOTHING into infrastructure in this country for decades! But it carries a certain elegance, despite the age. White tableclothes in the dining car. An attendant in each car, who usually knows your name. The newspaper stuffed under the door in the morning. Wine and cheese receptions. The lure of the glass-topped observation car, which allows you to sit in cafe booths or swivel seats and watch the countryside go by. And best of all, for me at least, I can't 'go' anywhere. I'm pleasantly trapped in my moveable hotel, traversing the country. I can only go around multitasking in a somewhat limited way, so it makes me put a lid on my ADHD and just mellow out. Read a book. Make some friends. Watch the landscape. DRAW the landscape. Nap. Play on the internet. Write.
(as I type today, we have just pulled up to the platform in Syracuse, NY...)
If I had to explain the experience any further, I'd say it's like 'fancy camping'. There is a 'community' aboard the rails, just as there is in many campground situations. Everyone's in this together. We visit. We excuse each other passing through the narrow hallways. We dine communally and enjoy each other's company. We watch out for each other. Unlike flight, we are not cramped into a tiny spot, all facing one way with inches to spare.
I could go on, but it's almost lunchtime. I'm going to hike up as far as I can to the front of the train, and then go and find some fellow travelers in the dining car. Together, we'll muse at one another's adventures and the passing mysteries as we enjoy a pretty darn fine meal.
-From room number 5, just down the hall from the shower on the second floor, Car 4811; bound for New York City; from just past Syracuse, NY...Board! Board! Board!

Politics: As Usual?

OK, so it goes like this: "A black guy, a post menopausal woman, a Baptist minister, a libertarian and a POW walk into a bar...." Yeah, it really could be a joke, right? I mean -- really!! 'Cept for in this case, they'd be hand-shaking the patrons - noting like a few drops of alcohol to get the conversation rolling, right? Save perhaps for the Baptist?
I've seen enough elections by this age to be simultaneously fascinated and horrified. Fascinated: by the people, the circumstances, the "hawking" of ideas, what is said and what is not said. Horrified: by ignorance, lack of attention, One-Issue Wonders and plain, ole' bare-knuckles stupidity....
How CAN one be "pro-life" and "pro-death penalty?"
How can a government who values staying out of funding my medical care and my business possibly be so interested in what happens in my uterus? Or my bedroom, for that matter?
Can't certain policies that allow businesses to prosper also reduce competition, don't we call those "monopolies" - yes folks like the game, and weren't they once illegal, on the grounds that they reduce competition?
Why does "spreading the message of Democracy in the world" only seem to apply to parts of that world that have oil, cheap labor, or some other commodity of interest? Simultaneously, why aren't "evildoers" in countries that don't have said commodities left to kill and plunder, while "evildoers" in countries that have something we might be interested in are dealt with?
(I'm feeling a little bit like George Carlin here - sometimes the most obvious things are the ones that you don't question...)
Why is it that decisions made "for the common good" seem now to be "for the common good" of only a few of the common?
Call me a Communist if you will, or a Socialist, or - gasp - insult of insults - a LIBERAL -- but I just don't get it. It's especially troubling whe the Measuring Stick of Religion is applied.
Now, don't get me wrong. I consider myself religious. I believe in God and see God in everyday life; in people, places, and things. I try to do the right thing, but acknowledge that I've "sinned and fall short of the glory of God", and recognize that Jesus is my savior - the one who interceded for me. I realize, like THomas of Jesus' day, that I sometimes need a little proof, and I get it - signed, sealed and delivered - which is totally why I believe in God. And, like many "Conservatives", I believe that, despite the separation of church and state (and it is there, folks, no matter what the 700 Clubber tell you!), what I do, and what "we" do, should be guided somehow by these principles, principles of right and wrong, principles of justice, patience, rewarding what is good, and trying to fix what is wrong.
But here's where the "Mutant Christians" as I affectionately call them and I part ways: HOW we are guided, and who is interpreting those principles! Ah, but isn't that the age old struggle between Man and God - things go well until Man tries to become God's bouncer, and then you have problems...
Who Would Jesus Bomb?, really?
If you listen to the 700 Club, or Rush, or any of the "Tighty Righties", the messages are right there between the lines. Tease them apart, and instead of believing, trusting, having faith, loving others as you do yourself, etc.; you'll get a justifcation of why you're/ why we're better than they are, messages of sexism, racism, intolerance, bigotry, and even - hatred.
These guys need a good dose of humility and a whole lotta reframing of "there but for the grace of God go I...."
Is it just that grey is so hard to swallow, and Black or White is easier? Isn't a lot of faith grey?
If Christian values are indeed guiding the powers that be, instead of cementing tax relief for the wealthy, shouldn't they be selling all that they own and giving the money to the poor? Cuz' "it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God". Cuz "when you have done this for the least of these, my brethern, you've done this for Me." And so much more.
But I could rant about the Mutants for hours. It's the One (or Two) Issue Wonder voter...
What about ingnorance and lack of attention?
If you are around children a lot, you may have seen this aspect of human nature in action. An adult will engage a child in a novel activity, in order to stop another behavior that the child is participating in or to prevent them from noticing something. We are distracted. A lot. By: working all the time, socializing, all manner of addictive behavior, television-movies-media-sports, etc. etc. Does anyone really pay attention to what "the adults" - read "our elected officials" are doing?? How many people know EVERYTHING about the teams that played in the Superbowl, and nothing about their own representatives in our democratic process? When that lack of knowledge becomes embarrassing, it's dismissed as "oh, you know. Politicans. They're all the same."
They're not.
While you're being tantalized by sports, Survivor, Lost, Terrorism, The News (it's a product, folks. Designed to sell!), The Latest Trend, Britney, Etc.; your government is being tweaked around the corner.
Pay attention. Our democracy is experiencing technical difficulties. We live in a DEMOCRACY and yet choose to not be involved! That's not just a shame, but selfish and embarrassing.
OK, maybe Britney's not wearing undies, but the Emperor has no clothes.....