Ok, Who's bright idea was it to let the 80's back?
I went to the mall last night, and there on display was a mannequin wearing scrunchy leather boots, leg warmers, a short neon asymmetrical skirt, and a half off the shoulder neon striped sweater. Did we learn NOTHING the first time?
And just a month or two ago I saw an article in a magazine about how terrible scrunchy boots are -- so 80's.
My web got pushed for one brief moment on the blogger mainpage as a "recently updated blog!" Small news, I know -- but it does mean I'm officially a public blog!
We had just your standard sleeper car, which we were warned in advance would make our dinky apartment look like Buckingham Palace. It was very comfortable. Opposite each other across a picture window. The second bunk fixed to the ceiling above. Nearly complete reclining options (as opposed to "airline recline"). Wide seats. No overweight smelly man hanging into more than his fair share of the seat. No one asleep and leaning precariously into your space. No need to plaster oneself against the window for some breathing room. And, the coupe du grace, hot showers in every sleeper car (for the big bucks you could have one in your room).
And the meals. I had lamb shank, 12 oz steak, French Toast, Quiche Lorraine, and a bacon cheese burger. Everything was included in the fare...And they weren't stingy with drinks and desserts....Even the alcohol wasn't rediculously overpriced....
There is something to be said for just getting there and getting it over. But what airplane has it's own movie theater below the parlor car?
PS, I kicked butt at Monopoly...
We pushed off again and were warned that ice may make us lose more time....at which point my buddy Nathan from one cabin over said, "well strap me to the front of the train with a scraper!" More on all the fun strangers I met later.
Would you rather hear about Nathan from Everett, George from Riverside, or Nick from new Orleans? You pick.
Anyway. All you out there, you know where to reach me....My cell will be on. I'll be on a train until Wednesday afternoon, and then in a car (assuming the passes are open). Yakima folks, look out -- here I come!
I hate this shift. There's not a soul here. It's warm, quiet, and I have a new book in front of me (that was supposed to be saved for my trip tomorrow, but is being utilized now...). Everyone has gone home. The guests are in their rooms. The phone has mercifully stopped ringing....I'm getting sleepy.
I'm having difficulty with my attitude. I don't want to be here. I should be home packing and cleaning, and leaving lengthy notes to my cat sitter. Instead I'm just sitting....
Quiet
Lonely..and peaceful.
Reading the fictional history of Jessie Fremont...wife of an explorer (now, although he became quite famous later). She was quite a woman. Independent, but not radical. Emotional, but clear thinking. Intelligent and well educated, but not overly aggressive.... Determined in pre-civil war Washington DC that a marriage should be an equal partnership. Each contributing to the other. The woman not relegated to the domestic sphere, but standing shoulder to shoulder with her husband. Supporting, helping, guiding...no small feat in that day and age....I'm impressed so far.
New favorite quote from the book....John Fremont comes back from a six month expedition to his nine month pregnant wife.
"I'm sorry I'm so bumpy, darling. It would be nice to be ravishingly beautiful for your return."
"If you hadn't been so ravishigly beautiful before I left, you wouldn't be so bumpy now."
I hate this shift. I'll enjoy the money when I return in a few weeks, but right now I'd rather be doing anything. Travelling already. Something....
A Woman in a lonely Home
Hearing like a sad refrain
Be faithful, love and love will come
In the gentle falling rain.
I realized tonight that packing for this trip is going to be very difficult. Partly because my wardrobe for the last six months has equaled roughly two suits and one uniform.
Partly because I've moved to Texas and California for the last five years and have no cold-weather clothes.
And mostly because I threw away my suitcases....My parents will wonder why I proceeded to throw away perfectly good suitcases. My answer would be that my suitcases were at best, temperamental. One had a clever trick of rolling onto one side whenever it had the notion. Especially when on a cross walk in front of a bus. The pop up handle only 'popped' when the bag was happily stationary. The zipper, we'll call him Bob, took a pair of pliers and a pep talk to close. To open, one had only to look cross-eyed. Or perhaps had a few pairs of scandalous underwear that you didn't want airport security pawing through. (Do I even own scandalous underwear? Isn't underwear scandalous by very nature?)
He spent several weeks sleeping in a corner after we moved here. Then he hibernated in the closet. The cat adopted him as a bed for a while, then he spent a while at the foot of Andrea's bed. Finally it was decided that my suitcase had seen enough of the world, and needed to find retirement. Which he did. The last I saw of my suitcase, and Bob the incorrigable zipper, they were reclining together near the People Helping People truck. Happily jaunting off to new adventures.
