Well, dang. It feels like weeks since I've sat down to write anything. I guess maybe that's because it HAS been weeks since I've written.
I blame the railroad.
Up until just a month or so ago, I lived in a constant state of danger. Facing one's mortality at every turn stimulates the mind and force feeds creativity. I was on the edge. And living there made every breath more stimulating, everything was brighter, stronger, more pungent.
But now the danger is gone.
Blasted railroad.
Here's the deal. At the end of one of the roads leading away from my house, there is a railroad crossing. I've lived in this house for almost ten years, and I lived every day with the knowledge that the train was going to kill me. For years I've told my friends and family, when the train finally gets me, it will be my own fault. I forget to look both ways before sailing over the tracks. So don't sue the railroad.
Anytime Katie was riding with me and we encountered the train, I told her I could jump it with my truck. The tracks are five or six feet higher than the road. You approach them on a dirt ramp sort of thing. Perfect setup for launching the truck right over the top of the moving train. I watched the Dukes of Hazzard all the time as a kid, so I knew I could do it - no problem.
Kate wasn't so sure.
So, to keep from offending her delicate sensibilities, I'd have to come up with a new excuse for not attempting the jump each time we ended up there at the same time as the train. Sometimes it was my own fault - I'd not been paying enough attention and hadn't built up enough speed on the dirt road leading up to the ramp. The price of jet fuel was prohibitive on several occasions and I wasn't sure if I could reach launch velocity on the cheap low-octane stuff I was using. Every once in a while the angle of the sun interfered. Occasionally she was in the truck with me right after I'd completed a successful jump and to do it again, so soon, was to run the risk of showboating and I'd never want to be accused of that.
I was running short of Shinola. But then the railroad solved the problem. They came along last month and put in lights and those arm thingies. Now I have to stop -- I can't jump the train.
It's the law.
Thank God!
12 comments:
Is that picture for real? Never mind. I'm sure it is; you can't make this stuff up. That angel looks like she's crowding up the area.
You do know that the arm thingies don't always work correctly, right? You'd better have an excuse in your back pocket.
I really wonder what the K kid will be when she grows up.
And will y'all ground her for the wonderful lies she tells when she comes in at 2am???
I bet that there are other train tracks that you can jump. Or...get out one morning with your wrench and tell her that you are *fixing them* so next time they will stay up and you can resume your jumpage.
Here in my town the arm thingies are just a weensy bit slow for the metro rail. We lose at least two SUVs and 3 people a year. And one guy just parked his SUV there to commit suicide, changed his mind and couldn't get his car off the track. That was one big crash.
Trains are evil. No doubt. It really isn't you. It's the siren call of the evil train.
First time on your blog and I absolutely love your writing!
Cool, Mandy!
So glad you stopped by and left a comment. Keep hanging around - the writing is fun, I hope, and the comments are ALWAYS entertaining.
well you little daisy duke you!... now about "loner" cemetery there... geeze how depressing is that? all to themselves even in death... bummer.
I despise trains. My town has like 80 trains running through it on a daily basis. A train derailed and smashed into the flower shop where I used to work. It happend at 2 in the morning, or else I'd be, like, you know, DEAD.
But I wounln't be a loner!!
I think this might be my favorite pic...up till now, anyway. What an odd arrangement of "stuff" inside the fence. Flowers pushed out to the corners and a puny little rabbit behind the tombstone.
Was the guy's name really Loner, or was that a personality trait?
Sure am glad you didn't try the ol' Daisy Duke and jump the train...
Glad you have a safer road now. We have numerous fatalities every year in Los Lunas and Belen because the railroads won't put up those crossings.
Here in Prairie Province (and its neighbours) we'd just say, "gawdam CPR" and that would about cover the problem!
LOVE the "Loner" plot!
yep....I think Katie will come up with some doozies when she needs a good excuse.
You crack me up.
Post a Comment