I am on the train right now (this was posted later when I was able to get to a connection). It reminds me of Europe. It is wet outside and only a little light. I think we are in Sacto and it is 6am. It feels grand.

I have been up since 1pm (I slept in). So, personal timewise, it is like staying up until 1am so far. I have an attitude of “it is the train, of course it is running behind, way behind.” That seems to be the way the train works these days and right now it isn’t bugging me. It is the journey. I have almost a week at my destination so, really, the time it takes to get there, as long as it is less than a day, doesn’t matter much.

I like the rainy feel. I like the cool air that is being piped into the rail cars. I like the darkened seats as people try to get a little sleep. All of this feels very much like home. I am surprised over and over how much my time in Belgium changed me.

Before I lived there (for just over a year), I liked the dry weather of Colorado. I liked the rain when it showed up, and the few times I saw fog were cool. After coming back from Europe, I wanted/needed the moisture, the overcast skys, the fog, the cool. The horizon-to-horizon cloudless skies bother me now. I haven’t been able to get enough rain. I need the green from lots of rain. I need the cool, moist air. It feels like home when it is like Belgium. I feel like I need to hide indoors when it is like Colorado. The snow is just something that is nice to visit like rain use to be many years ago. There is no homecoming to the concept of snow.

I like travel by train. I don’t like it when the train is stopped, but I love it when it is moving. I don’t even care if they have to move backwards while waiting, just keep the rocking, and swaying going. Give me the motion.

I lived in Pennsylvania from 1967-1972, then Colorado from 1072-1988. 1989 saw me in Belgium and in 1990, I was back in Colorado until 1996 when I moved to San Francisco. Since I grew up in Colorado and I spent the largest chunk of time there, I would think that is where I would feel like home. But I was born in Minnesota, was there for six months and then my parents moved to Paris, France. I was there for two years. My parents traveled everywhere when they could, timing the train rides to my naps. Maybe that is why European types of weather and the trains feel so comfortable to me. And my trip to Belgium just reacquainted me to all of it again.

I am going to be very sad to see rail service die off in America. I think it an option we need to leave open. And I am selfish, I want to have it around so I can travel and come home again and again.