Special announcement:
Today about noon my 87-year-old father and I will board a train in Manassas (where we live) for a father-son trip to the West Coast. We will go through Chicago, Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, Reno and into California, where we will end up in Oakland late Monday afternoon. From there, we will go to Oakland Airport and board a Jet Blue red-eye which will get us back to Dulles about 7 AM next Tuesday.
I will try to do posts each day on the journey. I understand that wi fi is spotty on long-distance Amtrak trains, so it that doesn't work I will try posting something every day via my i-Phone with a complete report next week.
If I'm able to post and you're able to follow our travels, I hope you will enjoy the account!
And now for our poem of the week, occasioned by driving to a funeral a week ago, and driving to other funerals other places, other times.
Driving to a Funeral
There is something elemental
About driving to a funeral.
It is different from other drives,
A journey undertaken for a journey,
A destination for a destination.
We travel without saying much
And what little conversation there is
Moves back to the matter at hand:
"He was a fine fellow"
Or
"She was a gracious lady."
The miles slide by
And we remember.
We are driving, traveling,
Each of us,
On that journey
To a shared destination.
--Dan Verner
Wow...what a venture/adventure! Given the short time involved, I assume this is for the joy of train-ing, rather than to visit specific sites. Sort of a (comfortable) hobo's-eye-view of the country. Can't wait to see the posts/ poetry that will come from this.
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