Sunday Evening Reveries

Opera seeps from the alley, birds sing their wanton song. The heat of the morning turns into a sweet breeze of the afternoon. The sun has gone down past the roof tops and hides from my sight. But I can still see the soft billowing clouds and the pale blue sky of an early summer evening.

It's the most relaxed I have felt in a long time. When I set off to cross of items from my bucket list, I forgot to take into consideration that I needed to schedule some down time for myself. For those who may have missed it, please refer to my 42day adventure in Europe starting with the first day in London: Please be kind, I wrote every night after a long day of crazy and I wrote on my phone, so a little patience with typos and grammar, enjoy.

http://travelingfeetadventures.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/day-1-london.html

I had the mistaken belief that I would take my downtime in the many train rides that had me traveling through Europe. Instead, either I spent the time gaping at the country side or asleep. I have absolutely no discipline. I can't force myself to a schedule, certainly not one when it comes to my creativity. My creativity is like an affliction to me. It's as if i suffer from a consistent fever that has now cure or remedy. It comes upon me without notice and the moment grips me in a particular fever and I am resigned.

But I am also stubborn, I would abide to just any whim, it must be something unusual or irresistable, or I'll easily get bored and drop it.

Being unemployed brings one unexpected comfort, the days slide by like a dream. I forget to keep time, I merely enjoy the moments. I've regained the loveliness of a Sunday afternoon.

When I worked, I hated Sunday afternoons because it meant that tomorrow was the dreaded Monday, first day of work. Now I can enjoy a lovely Sunday evening, relaxing, writing and for the moment, not a care in the world.


I feel very Scarlett O'Hare-ish when it comes to my financial situation, "I'll think about it tomorrow."

Deluded or freed?

Well, I'll just have to see won't I? For now, I'm like water, I just flow.

Adventures of the Traveling Feet: Day 3

     It started out dark but not dreary. I woke up early to make sure I ate breakfast between 5-6am. Since we expected to arrive in LA at 815am, the crew needed time to serve us and to clean up.
     The term they use is "community seating", you are seated at a booth with whomever choses to eat at the same time you eat. So breakfast was another table of 4 strangers, who for a time chatted like old friends.
     We exchanged names, but to my chagrin, I forgot their names the minute they told me. But the woman sitting next to me immediately asked:
     "The table you were at last night, there was one woman who looked so sad. What was wrong?"
     I was taken aback by the question, I haven't been paying as much attention as I guess I should have been. I never noticed her, but she noticed us.. I didn't mention names, we are all just passing ships, so I told her the truth.
     After I did so this new woman I just met simply nodded and said:
     "I'm on year three of colon cancer. Doing good."
     I assumed that meant she was 3yrs into remission. Again, I was taken aback by the candidness of our conversation. I don't know what it means, but I'll file it away like I always do. There are things we can share with a stranger because that we can't share with our close friends and family. Maybe because we are more considerate of their feelings than a strangers?
     I can't tell my family just how badly I'm feeling because they would worry. A co-worker isn't as emotionally invested in you and will tell you to just suck it up, but will worry about you as well. A stranger will be sincerely concerned, but they won't worry, they will say a prayer and then their moment in your life is passed, their purpose fulfilled. They let go, you let go.
     This morning as we arrived in LA, I looked for my friend from the night before. Perhaps she rode on the red caps' trolley, I walked. But I didn't see her again. I'd like to think one day I'll hear from her telling me she's doing well. I also like to think, maybe I didn't need to see her because I had given my message already. I have had so many angels drop into my life, saying something casual and random, I would hope that this once, I was an angel for her.
     Wherever you are, my friend, I say a prayer and only wish you the best.

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-Behold! The Pacific Ocean! 1228pm

  
     Today I switched trains; I am on the "Coast Starlight" that will take me on my final leg to Seattle. It literally hugs the coast; I watched the waves tumble endlessly. It was magnificent to see the coast, north of Santa Barbara to just south of San Luis Obispo. There were parts that weren't accessible by car or foot ; I was in awe. I was plastered to my window! Then inland towards Salinas, we rode through mountain ranges where I saw deer; happy California cows! Four tunnels later, I got my cell signal back.

     The Pacific Ocean absolutely enthralls me and suddenly a moment of absolute clarity struck me in the form of a haiku I wrote about my muse. 
          
          Pacific Ocean
          Seafoam reminds me of your
          Grey saltwater eyes

Tonight at dinner I met Valerie; Bonnie, Canadian childhood friends. They took a cruise from Vancouver and stayed in San Diego for a few days and were now returning home. While I was having dinner, someone I follow in Twitter said something about wishing the Canadians a happy thanksgiving, serendipity? Of course I didn't see the tweet until I had said goodnight to the ladies, otherwise I would have passed on the regards.   

I've  met so many interesting people; I've told them all my crazy story of missing the train. It's a great icebreaker. Unexpected cicumstance turns into great stories!

Tomorrow the Cascade Mountains await. I wondered why it takes so long, it's 1377mi (according to the brochure) so it's approximately 22hrs of actual travel time.

My tweets during this day:

-It is 434am in California. Next stop, San Bernadino, CA. It's colder this morning than yesterday! 434am

-Night still glides by my window as sleep struggles needlessly with alert. I'll let the slug it out and just sit here. 438am

-It is 640am & the highway is already packed w/traffic. Red string lights dot the road. 640am

-Traveling Feet is now in LA! 801am

-LA Union Station, it's grey it's cloudy, but I'm enjoying the fresh air 802am

-Maybe it won't be 2 hard to get Traveling Feet to pose. This is in the general waiting area at LA Union Station 826am

-So this route is far more bourgeois than the last route. We in the sleepers have a separate "parlor" car & wine tasting- a sarcasm font :-/  10/38am

-Love, I've mapped out our romantic getaways, I know the places you'll love because I love them too. All I need is for you to arrive. 1109am

-It's only 1pm yet the sky is getting darker, there is a tangerine tinge to the clouds. Does it presage rain storms? 106pm

-Saw a buck bounding through to dunes on his way to the ocean. Beautiful full horns too! 252pm

-Freshly cut trees trackside; the bright orange insides glisten like blood, can you hear a tree scream? 253pm

-Went thru 4 tunnels just now, want to see what I looks like when u r in a tunnel!  417pm

-I'm just a melancholy baby watching the landscape fly by, each railroad tie, each mile, every mountain we climb, remind me-you're not here. 537pm

-It's the grey of late afternoon that obscures my sight like a hidden veil. Or is it the tears that linger on the edge, refusing to fall? 541pm

-What I have learnt in the trip so far, age doesn't diminish your ability to be engaging, fascinating & friendly. 914pm

-I must admit the rolling years can be cruel, but you cannot submit to that cruelty. Enjoy life it is a gift of great joy! 915pm

We just passed Oakland, about 30-40mins ago, next stop is Martinez, CA. I'm going to sleep. G'nite! 

Adventures of the Traveling Feet Day 2

       Morning came quietly, a soft grey glow. I slept with the drapes open so I could be awakened by the sun. Breakfast is first come, first served, I don’t know what made me think quiche on a train for breakfast was a bright idea. It was like a log and I made a horrible mistake trying out chicken sausages. Is that some sort of culinary joke?

     Nothing can quite describe this train ride better than the tweets I sent out that day:

-Just sitting in La Junta, CO where it is 32F w/frost and ice (914am)

-Train will past Pike's Peak & sangria de Christo mountains. Will climb to 7000ft. Would explain my headache (918am)

-Feet up, train moving, Beatles on the iPod, reading Sunday funnies. Life is good. (930am)

-iPod on shuffle, cosmic smiling, Maroon 5 started playing "Sunday Morning"! awesome (933am)

-I am always amazed, astounded and grateful for the rich & varied beauty of our country. (956am)

-Passing through frost covered arroyos, that look like powdered sugar on my cornflakes. (1008am)

-Headache intensifying, still climbing. Frost is thickening like toasted pop tarts! (1022am)

-Pulling up to Marley, CO ghost town. Train weaving thru mountain passes,slowly,silent as a ghost (1134am)

-The fog is a thick adding to the anticipation of a ghost town (1135am)

-It is seriously eerie, no train whistle, no chugachuga. We glide thru the pass.(1136)

-The only witnesses are the electric poles w/their glass conductors. Silent sentinels (1137am)

-It's a good thing the windows are only emergency exits. Otherwise I'd be pulling a Scooby & hanging my head out. (1153am)

-I would totally spend my time hanging out the window catching bugs in my teeth! (1154am)

-I'm starting to see mountain ranges. Pale half moon hanging in the sky. (130pm)

-Landscape littered with broken cars, empty houses and lost dreams. (132pm)

-We are in Las Vegas, NM (135pm)

-The sky is now a brilliant azure! (212pm)

-We are at 7127ft altitude (254pm)

-I hate it when the train stops, cuz my brain thinks it's still moving & there is that moment of nausea.(313pm)

-We're stopped. My view is of an anthills. Seriously.(316pm)

-I am so bored, I'm actually drinking water.(348pm)

-I can see the twitterverse! In albuquerque. It is sweet, warm & I'm catching the late afternoon sun on the train platform. (509pm)

-Night has dropped over NM as we pull into Gallup. All I see are the pinpricks of street lights dotting the dark mountains. (816pm)

-Next time I take a long train ride, I'm going to time it w/a full moon. All this endless majesty under the silver light of a full moon? (823pm)

-We have just arrived in Flagstaff, AZ. Everything looks so lonesome at night.(1114pm)

There is a reason for everything that happens to us and sometimes we actually get the chance to see it happen. Tonight I understood why I missed my train.

     At dinner, I was treated to a table of 3 different older women. We exchanged where we were going; one said she was going to UCLA for breast cancer treatment. I was stunned; she was open to sharing her story. From what I could tell she was recently diagnosed and she said her doctor had a good prognosis for her recovery. But she was getting conflicting recommendations as to further diagnostic treatment. She told us how at breakfast, her table consisted of two cancer survivors and a widower who had lost his wife to cancer 2yrs ago. The other lady sitting next to her was telling her of a friend she had who had survived breast cancer and seemed buoyed by the news.

     When I first sat down, she had a sort of feverish stare, intense, as if she were committing every little thing she saw to memory. And of all the people I have talked to and whose company I have enjoyed. She was the first and only one so far to ask my name.

     When I first joined Twitter I found someone following me who beat breast cancer not once but twice. I didn't know why she was following me so I did the polite thing and followed her. I mean, you never know right? When I met this woman tonight, I was able to pull out my phone, look up my tweep's info and pass it along. If it helps raise her spirits, inspires her and brings her comfort? Then I was meant to board this train and be a messenger. I believe that we all have the God spark in us; you just got to let it shine. I gave her the website for breast cancer patients, I also gave her my email so, if she liked, she could contact me and I could pass on more info, or whatever. I watched her make a notation of my name and next to it she wrote "writer". I was touched.

     At lunch I also met a French painter traveling to the Grand Canyon so she can be inspire to paint that. Her name is Sophie Moraine, her artwork can be seen at www.fifilamomo.fr

     Just a quick by the way, the site is in French, I can still it, I practiced my French with them and they said that my French was the best they had heard so far. It's amazing the time I'm having.

     I figured out how to pull the top bunk open because I wanted to see what that looked like. They only pulled out the main bed but during the day they store the mattress up in the top bunk. The top bunk has straps that they highly recommend are attached to the ceiling to keep someone from falling. 

     I felt nothing in my bottom bunk and I slept soundly.