A Better Way to Travel

Earlier this week, I took an Amtrak passenger train for the first time in my life.  It's true.  Even though I'm from a train-crazy family, I had never been on a passenger train (outside of subways) in the United States.  

It was a mistake.

I have traveled extensively for work the past few years and I have my airline routine down--what I put in my carry on, what I wear, and maximizing outfits out of a minimum of clothes and shoes.   I am used to the drama of delayed flights and middle seats and short layovers.  No problem.  But I hadn't really realized how far airline travel had deteriorated with respect to comfort until this week.  Until the train.

Admitedly, my sample size is small and I traveled a relatively short distance on a non-holiday.  But the absolute ease of the boarding process, followed by the roominess of the seats almost instantly won me over.  And I could go on and on from there!  No worrying that the DVD player will run out of batteries before your child runs out of movie, no "seat belt light" preventing you from taking a trip to the (much larger) bathroom, snacks and drinks any time you want...well, you get the idea.  Three hours on a train with a small child is much shorter than three hours on a plane with or without the child.  As one of my friends put it, it is a more human pace of travel.  Our collective love affair with automobiles and airlines have relegated the trains to the poor stepchild of travel, but we have been deceived!  Those of us in my generation, who have so little experience with trains, did not know what we were missing!  No more!  I am already planning my next trip!!

Rain in Culpeper, VA

The Crescent Line:  New York to New Orleans!

Union Station in Washington DC

The Potomac River in DC, at sunset

      

Daffodils

We are still tired after our busy Easter weekend.  On Tuesday we went to a screening of the movie Chasing Ice, which was sponsored by the Environmental Law Society at the University of Idaho.  It was quite good, but depressing.  The movie documents a photographer, James Balog, as he sets up cameras to take time-lapse images of the glaciers in the Arctic.   It's a good reminder that sometimes geologic activity can happen very, very quickly, and that the overwhelming scientific evidence points to humans as a least one of the primary factors leading to climate change.

The movie also helps put things in perspective for me, so that when I'm whining because it's April and I'm wondering if I should start a fire in the woodstove or just put on a sweater, that it is good to have seasons and it's good to have them come when and as they ought.  So I'll just keep knitting hats for now, instead of sewing up cute skirts, and waiting for my flowers to bloom.  Oh, and trying to think of ways to reduce my family's carbon footprint!

Our Little Nature Park

Amazingly lovely Easter weekend.  Weather in the 60's, highly unprecedented.  We visited friends--two dinners out!  I'm already making plans to repay the hospitality this summer once we have our large, outdoor dining table out.  Our extra outdoor rooms will soon be available!

Easter Sunday afternoon was lazy and delightful.  Our neighbor's daughter had a Fairy Tea Party in the backyard.  While we were enjoying watching the children play, we spotted a beaver and a pair of mallards in the creek.  The mallards didn't seem at all disturbed by children running up and down the bank chasing them.

It inspired me to clean up the backyard and get it ready for summer playtime.  Today I mucked out part of the creek.  I actually enjoyed it; there is a certain satisfaction in throwing large, beaver chewed logs onto the bank that beats working out at the gym amongst frat boys.  So much more to do, but at least I have my self-imposed marching orders--and a creek that's already pretty beautiful in its own right!

Beaver neighbor!

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard

 

Here's a Dang Tissue

I had a really crappy week.  Not crappy in sort of a life-altering bad way, but it was pretty sub-par nevertheless.  Work was one crisis-management issue to the next, my preschooler wasn't sleeping, and one of my best friends moved to Australia.  That's right, Australia.  The country on the other side of the world.  I spent most of the week feeling pretty sorry for myself.   So in the words of my friend Rhonda, here's a dang tissue.  Except given that I like to reuse, and I love antique linen, here's a dang hankie.  Or several. 

 

Gettin' Wood!

Recently, I went with my husband for the first time to cut firewood.  We have a Forest Service permit, which allows us to cut four cords of wood.  In the past, he's gone by himself or with other men, but this time he asked me to come.  He said it would make me appreciate my warm house more in the winter.  He also told me that sometimes people are in the area shooting and asked if that would make me nervous.

It was then I knew that getting wood was either going to be really fun, or really, really nerve wracking!

The night before I promised that I would follow instructions quickly and carefully without (much) commentary.  The latter ended up not being that difficult, as it's hard to talk over a chain saw.  And with respect to the instructions part--well let's just say I was all about the 'quickly.'  With Forest Service permits, you are allowed to cut wood that is already on the ground (fallen trees) or trees that are standing but clearly dead.  (Note:  they call the latter 'widow makers.')  I knew that felling trees would probably be part of the day's operations, and I admit I was pretty nervous.  So the first time we picked one to cut, hubby handed me a sturdy branch and told me I was the 'pusher.'  He first cut a notch close to the ground on the side of the truck that we wanted the tree to fall.  As he prepared to cut on the opposite side (where we were standing) he told me to push well above his cut to encourage the tree to go where we wanted it to go (i.e. away from us).  He also said that as it begins to fall, I should move back and go stand on a particular tuft of grass.  He then began to cut into the tree and I pushed and watched.  The instant that dang tree started to fall, I leaped for the grass.  The tree landed exactly on target, and hubby turned to me and said "good job, but next time you don't need to throw your stick."  Noted.  

We ended up felling three trees.  He cut, I carried.  He said I had never looked sexier as I did while carrying wood.  I would beg to differ on that account, but it was a nice compliment nevertheless.  I'll also add that we didn't hang up any trees and that all three landed right where we targeted.  I'd like to think it was my innate mathematical ability that allowed me to triangulate the exact place and direction to push, but I think that would be a bit of an overstatement.  At any rate, we are half a cord closer to a full woodshed, and had a little bit of marital bonding to boot!  Not bad for a day's work!