Happy Rails-Day 1

This is a travel missive I wrote in October, 2020.

(All quotes are from Rumi).

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you;

Don’t go back to sleep.

The thing about trains is, they rock you to sleep.

You can amuse yourself with scenic views and warm chatter all you care to, but in the end, it is the rhythm that takes you. A lullaby of wheels turning on rails. The soft rocking of your body, wave-like, as if no tension ever filled the sinews that link your bones. Suddenly you are pliable in mind and body as you drift away into the arms of the Beyond, only to be reborn, briefly, with each shift or jolt. And then down again into the refuge of .

Once you emerge and recalibrate your senses, vistas await you. One day the ocean, another farms stretching as far as the eyes can see. And before long, the slow cooling mountains where fir trees stand like ladders into the heavens. In rolling ravines, the trees foster rocks. Coaxing them to make that first turn from prone to head-stand. Teaching them to plunge their mouths into the earth for succor, fulfillment.

They will need the nourishment for the coming journey. For crores of further evolution until the human form is finally won and consciousness is complete – and completely bound by the impressions, the “ancient twisted karma” that skews our vision and controls our desires.

“Drink deeply, little ones”, the trees chant. “It will be your last taste of freedom for a very, very long time.”

You must ask for what you really want;

Don’t go back to sleep.

In Truckee, I remember that autumn is barely a whisper on the breeze. Tourists still in shorts, no smell yet of wood fires burning. The leaves of deciduous trees only tipped with brown, due to the drought. My friends Robert and Kristina said they want to ride the train here – maybe next weekend. Robert has caught the train bug from following my trip. Or rather it has been re-awakened in him. He said he has always wanted to take the train to Chicago and catch a Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field. Preferably the Cubs v Giants. He’s a big fan.

Come to think of it, perhaps a half dozen friends are vicariously sharing the journey with me. I hope for their sake that dinner is better than lunch. Caesar salad smothered in - was that mayonnaise?!

People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch.

The door is round and open.

Approaching Donner Pass, the Engineer announces over the PA system that this part of the trip always makes him hungry.

I offer to write him a better joke. How about, "I got your back..."?

He likes it. Says, "Just don't pull my leg"!

Don’t go back to sleep.

To see more from this collection, click here:

Happy Rails Collection