Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show...(the opening lines of David Copperfield as written by Charles Dickens;inspired by MTM). Or at least this ACCOUNT will, perhaps, have a reflection on whether I'm going to be the hero in my own life.
ONE BRIGHT AND GUIDING LIGHT
THAT TAUGHT ME WRONG FROM RIGHT
I FOUND IN MY MOTHERS EYES
JUST LIKE A WONDERING SPARROW
ONE LONELY SONG
I WALK THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW
TO REACH MY GOAL~~~aspiring Frankie Valli singing "My Mother's Eyes." in a Newark, NJ nightclub, to Mr. DiCarlo
I was sitting along one of my Railroad train-tracks retreat locations on Friday afternoon of 1 April, when an overwhelming sense of nostalgia swept over me. I have no idea what was the catalyst, but I was so drawn into this recollection that my eyes
did moisten. Being consumed by this transference to childhood and innocence just swept over me. I could almost feel as though I had gone through an Alice-in- Wonderland looking glass~~~to be reliving the experience all over again.
It is the valley of life's burdens that has us know the transformation of what a moment of raw unmitigated joy can yield.
I remember when we were little kids, living on Myrtle Avenue, and then Orange Street, when our Dad would take 'us' on this one "Ride." "Come-on" he would say, and then add this question as if we were going to refuse anyways; "Yous(sic) kids wanna(sic) go for a ride!?!?" Dad didn't have to ask twice!! We were tripping over each other to see who would get into the car first; who was going to get 'windows', first. We were, in effect, leaving Mom home alone with the newborn, and there was always one of those around. But nobody seemed concerned about that~~~when Dad asked, 'the ride' question.
Anticipation!!!
This would be during the Father-Baker-Bridge days of Fuhrmann Boulevard. Going W/B on Fuhrmann Blvd, just before the Father Baker Bridge, there was this elevated, and well-peaked, overpass. I'm too young to really know for sure, but I'm thinking it was Tifft Street that ran under the overpass. And when us kids got the hint that we were going to be traversing this, a huge glow of radiance would just exude from all of our faces!! As little kids, we knew that we were about to have~~~"The Time Of Our Lives!"
As my father was about to approach the Piedmont of the incline, he would "hit" the accelerator of our seen-its-day vehicle. I have no idea what make and model it was. I just knew Uncle Pat, and Uncle Louie, always had the better ones. Keep in mind now, that this is in the era before seat-belts. So in great anticipation, with baited-breath, we are watching, as one does in a roller-coaster ride, that we are making our way up the incline. With smiles on our faces Victor and I, in the front, would come forward in our seats so our hands were now up against the dashboard. This gave us a birds eye view to heighten the 'rush'. Mary & Rose would be in the back sedan seats with glee and excitement etched all over their faces as well. Mary, in particular, I remember, seemed to find these experiences almost transcendental.
Having gotten up the incline, it of course, becoming ever more evident that the speed of the vehicle is increasing. And this is essential to effect the sensation that my Dad is just as intent on pulling off, as we are looking forward to enjoying. As we are now full-throttle coming up over the crest of the overpass, our stomachs~~~are now in our throats!!! As the car is now settling back unto the undercarriage from which it has just appreciably lifted, we kids are now starting to come back into the seats from which we were part of a moment-in-time; otherworldly, suspended animation!!!
Still giggling and laughing from the afterglow, as we are now proceeding along the decline portion of the overpass, I turned to my Father saying that this was great---and then asking, "will we be coming back this way too, Dad?!?!?
These are but a few of some very very precious moments that I remember our Dad gave to us. Priceless; thank you, Dad.
I hate when a superior does this; turns you into the comparison whipping-boy---to prod others along. Especially since I am the new-kid-in-town. Everybody kind of ends up looking at you like what is 'he' trying to prove?? Especially since I am just a part-timer just trying to keep my head above water.
I am at my station Thursday, 31 March, and it is about 11AM already. I am 'other-reason' registering a multitude of ACFN(Address-Confirmation-Final-Notice) post-cards that have been returned. I have a little bit of a system going, minding my own business, and tucking these away in a rapid-fire kind of way. Intermittent throughout the area, there is this 'chatter'. Joel, the Operations Manager, just comes out and parks himself in the middle of everything and remarks---"I'd like to see this project through~~~Lou's got 187 done already."
"Great," I thought!! First of all---how the blankety-blank does he know that??? He must have a big-brother 'feed' in his computer. And secondly---I am sure that everybody is thinking wonderful things about me at this particular time; gggrrr.
I am too new to make any mountain out of this mole hill. But certainly if it should happen again, I will have to ask Joel to consider another type of motivational technique.
While still reflecting on 31 March, 2011, I must mention about this really-cool experience I had in the afternoon at the Woodward Avenue rail crossing. Along this area is this leveled gravel-path that is right along side the rail-bed. So I decided~~~sure!!! Why not!! Keep in mind that these are 'line-haul' tracks. In other words, while there is some switching that takes place on these tracks, the thoroughbreds will 'move' along these rails. Where I end up parking, my van is parallel to the tracks, and no more than two-hockey-nets away---from the rail. Being that this is Thursday in the afternoon, I have a pretty good feeling about AMTRAK. And sure enough, the Maple Leaf Ltd N/B shows up, and, with bells, whistles, and speed, the passenger train just goes by in a blur. It is just so cool to watch this high-speed mass-of-metal, and engineering, just sweep by in an effortless streak. Still mesmerized by this metal marvel I turn with it as it is passing by and continue watching it as it is now going off in the distance where it will eventually disappear.
As I have resigned myself to fact that this experience is completed, I turn around in my seat and kind of settle back into reading some of the paper when, I excitedly, get attentive again!! In the distance, on the same N/B track~~~is another set of head-lights!!! I had never actually witnessed this before. I mean, this new set of 'lights'; must be a freighter, and it MUST have just gotten the green light to enter this 'block' because the the AMTRAK was~~~just on it!! Because it is a freighter, and is just entering into this recently traveled 'block' I know she is just starting to gear-up. But I also know that because it is on a line-haul track, by the time it gets to where I am, she should be 'cranking' because she will be going through a crossing that will have traffic at a stand-still. Sure enough, with great anticipation, this 'Baby'---is finally coming. As the crossing gates are coming down, I can see that this UNION PACIFIC powered ensemble has developed some speed. As she is coming across the crossing, the bells & whistles are resonating. Just moments after the crossing is navigated, there are now four SD-40 six-axle UNION PACIFIC engines thundering by me, in a blaze of glory!! As they are whistling by, so is the rolling stock along with it. I did decide to count the units, and it was a rapid-succession-count, too. For four power-units, I was somewhat surprised. There was only 83 pieces of rolling-stock that were being pulled.
I don't know why; maybe it is the color-scheme, the UNION PACIFIC just looked more threatening as they were coming 'at me'. I have seen CSX six-axle SD-40 power-units moving along at a pretty good clip on Broadway, near the Bison Yards. It could be that I am not watching the CSX units from just twelve feet away. These 4 SD-40 UNION PACIFIC units, that I was observing on this Thursday~~~just looked foreboding and formidable.
Trains!!! Plains(inclines/declines)!!! And automobiles!!
--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise
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