Gems

So....due to a grand delay at the airport during a trip last fall, we decided to take the train this time. We rode the Capitol Limited from Washington, D.C. to Chicago and loved it, more details on that later, as I want to write down some observations from the start of our adventure. While riding through DC and Baltimore, I noticed millions of sparkling pieces of glass along the banks of the train tracks, thoroughly disgusted by the thoughtless discarding of trash by my fellow humans. I also, however, caught myself appreciating the sparkles and beautiful rainbow colors emanating from those hills of dirt. Why not, I asked myself, think of them as they really are? They are beautiful. It's just because they are not rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds that I am disgusted. If they were nature's minerals sparkling there, I'd pull the train stop and go gather them. So I allowed myself the luxury of discarding my own judgmental trash and enjoyed those gems for what they were. Change of perspective so often allows us to be a little bit more happy, so why not?!

Here are a few more gems we encountered during the ride:

Beautiful bridges along...
...Beautiful waterways
Kids playing basketball on inner city courts
Herons
River otter
Lounging deer
Galloping horses
Churches
Lovely barns
My seatmate : )
Small, medium, and large houses and buildings housing lives being lived
People of all ages sitting on benches and playing in city parks
Farms
Manufacturing - and the smell of diesel and coal
No delays
Great train food
Leon, AJ, Mike, Suzanne, Jamille, Helen, Ben, Lou - porters and meal partners
A pair of Canadian geese and a pair of swans
Graffiti of great artistic talent
Crescent moon smiling down through the window during an evening in the lounge car
Headlight of the train as we traveled round a curve at night
Waking at night to hear the train whistle, only to be rocked back to sleep by the movement of our car on the tracks
City skylines
Orthodox priest
Mance, PA
The minimalism of our shower and lav
Discovering overnight train travel!
Those dear to us who were waiting at the other end, and those dear to us to whom we would be returning

Let us gather our gems each day and appreciate their value.