RDF/RSS Feed
Atom Feed
It was an interesting trip, what with floods, weather and all the LifeStuff going on. Mac-horse pooped abundantly overnight Monday to Tuesday morning, but vet’s orders had him on a restricted diet for 48 hours after poopage, so my husband had to deal with that, as well as his own medical appointments. I fell into my train compartment and knew we would have no contact until after his Wednesday appointment, when I’d be in Chicago between trains. That call was a good news/bad news mix, from his doctors.
The train up from Texas was uneven in temperature and I had the hotbox of a roomette–either end of the car was much cooler. Not a lot of sleep that night. The views of flooded fields and overflowing streams and rivers were…sobering. Would have been great to take some of that rain from those who didn’t need it and blow the clouds to those who did. All that first day of travel, I didn’t try to write–just knitted and relaxed and let my mind wander and rest.
It’s great to have knitting along but I should have brought more yarn. I started with a new ball for each project…but no backup yarn. Apparently, I knit a lot faster on a train or in a station waiting for a train than I did at home. Also, when I started knitting again I was very slow, but now I’m speeding up. A lot. Knitting soothes waiting, and having both a long-row project and a short-row project allows me to choose the one that fits the anticipated waiting time.
The train from Chicago to D.C. started just after six in the evening, and we ran into fog for a ways, and then a darkening sky as we were pointed at some severe weather. My compartment was on the lower level and cooler than before, so I watched the storms coming nearer (or the train approaching them) for awhile, listening to Pollini play Chopin on my headphones and writing–because the ideas had started flowing. Went to bed a little early for me–climbed up (I like the upper bunk) and slept well in the cooler air until just before 4 am. Climbed down and realized the sky was already getting light, and we were pulling into Pittsburgh. I stayed awake, put on the headphones and got to see the dawn light on the river as the tracks are right beside it, up one narrow valley after another. In fact, the trip from Pittsburgh to Rockville, MD is truly scenic. After that, it’s all urban/suburban bleh.
This train had more staff in the dining car–and far more cheerful and efficient staff–than the two men in the Texas Eagle dining car. I wrote for awhile in the morning (hard to ignore that scenery, though!) and have written some after arriving here. Plot problems have untangled. New ideas! Better ideas! (But no, you cannot lock me into a train compartment until the book is done. Would not work.)
From Union Station in D.C., I caught a MARC train to Baltimore’s airport (BWI) and there the con chair very kindly picked me up and brought me out to Hunt Valley and the convention venue. In Union Station, there’s a big Barnes & Noble that had one copy each of two of my books, so I signed those between the trains.
So now I’m at Balticon, about to go see if Registration has my badge ready (if not, I’ll eat lunch) and then I’ll disappear into the maelstrom of convention life for a couple of days. I’ll try to post again before getting back on the train Tuesday for the several days’ journey home.
Comment by iphinome — May 27, 2011 @ 6:46 pm
Well gee if you’re willing to sign books between trains I’ll bring you my whole bag of yarn in exchange for autographing my copy of Once a Hero when you pass back though Chicago.
Comment by elizabeth — May 28, 2011 @ 1:08 am
Are you serious? I don’t need a whole bag of yarn (I have a box of yarns at home) but if there’s any way you could snag a ball of Berocco Comfort “Finigan’s Rainbow” or “Sanibel Island” (what I’m using for these two projects) that would get me home from Chicago without trying to knit less. And I’d very happily pay for them AND sign your book. There’s an email link on my websites; let’s see if we can make that work and take this to email. The timing may be all wrong for you, but if not…
Comment by Jenn — May 28, 2011 @ 9:40 am
Trains are a great place for knitting. No interruptions! I bring my small projects to Doctor offices also. Never had one on time and hate the TV.
How much yarn do you have at home? I did a count awhile ago and I have now about 50 pounds or so. I must not go to the yarn store for a while.
Happy Knitting!
Comment by arthur Piantadosi — May 28, 2011 @ 9:30 pm
This is Arthur. I have not taken a train ride in years. . . I think of Trains as one of the best ways to travel. The best being riding on a Zepplin, of course! Much better than a car, most of the time, and no jerky starting and stopping, once you are out in the country. i do not know if you ever come to Los Angeles, but I would LOVE for you to sign my books. . . but I would have to know about the trip in advance. Have you ever come to Los Angeles? I really do not know. I have been a fan of yours for YEARS. Ever since you wrote Once a Hero. I was bullied in school, and Once a Hero helped me deal with it. I was brought up W. A. S. P, and I admire many things about W. A. S. P. culture. But one of the things that the W. A. S. P. culture tells as a cultural myth with no roots, is the strong, silent hero, who NEVER tells a lie, but always helps his fellow man. I am also hyper-lexic, and as a result get most of my information from various medias. And BOY did I get mixed signals from the media my youth. I had several false friends while I was growing up, unfortunatly mostly black. I was put in a school for ‘slow’ kids, called S. M. A. S. H. I HATED it there. It was not the teachers, I had several good ones. It was not the campus either, which was REALLY run down when I went there. It was a black girl, I forget her name, who was there because of Affirmative Action. She was a ROTTEN bully, and treated every kid there like dirt, and she GOT AWAY with it because she was the only black kid, if they got rid of her, everyone would call them racist. I then went to Flagstaff, Arizona, and was put in a private school, called Mountain School. THANK GOD for that. I was always an active boy, and in the city, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica in particular, there is not really any place to dig. I still like to dig, and I volunteer at a local garden every week. Flagstaff was great for a growing boy. There were used bookstores, trees, growing things. I LOVED it. Me and my mom were there 2 years while she got her Masters in Mathematics. Then we went back to Los Angeles. We moved to Culver City, and I went to La Ballona Elementary. I had the best teacher I have EVER had. Michelle Herzog. It was the last year she taught as an ordinary teacher. She was ANYTHING but ordinary. She got into the ‘hero teacher’ program they had around that time, to teach other teachers how to BE teachers. But that sort of truth cannot be taught. You either have it or you do not. After that I went to Culver Middle and Culver High. Culver Middle is where I was beaten up in the locker room, for no reason I know of. It would NEVER have happened if the school either built the room with more sense, or patrolled the room with teachers or security guards while people were changing. Suffice to say, I was beaten up, and terribly ashamed of having been beaten up. I had a hidden, bad ego, and hated the fact that I was bested so easily. I did not tell my parents, or the school at the time, which was a MISTAKE. But I did not really know that in my gut. In all my experince until then, if I told no one about something bad that only happened once, it would go away. I was a ‘silent child’ unless someone opened me up. But getting back to what I said about Once a Hero. . . I felt what Esmay felt. Big time. The school would have been glad to forget about the whole incident. I would have been glad to, as well. But my mother, she was FURIOUS at them. I do not think I could have identified the people involved, even if I had come forward right at the start. But the school made me look through the whole student roll. And here is a bitter fact. I am faceblind. I did not hate Middle and High School, but it was NOT a time of pleasure for me. Sorry for ranting, but I feel like I understand you, Mrs. Moon. Thank you for this blog. I will give you my phone number, if you want.
Comment by Rolv — May 30, 2011 @ 6:48 am
Do I hear the echo of the Chinese folk tale “Journey to the West”, the story of how the Buddhist scriptures came to China, with the help of the Monkey King and in apite of the Ox King Demon, in this title?:-)
Rolv
Comment by Jenn — May 30, 2011 @ 8:06 am
Remembrances on Memorial Day
Comment by elizabeth — May 30, 2011 @ 11:38 am
I have my mother’s yarn stash (inherited) and my own yarn stash (both old and new) and I really have no idea how much. I need to organize it (amused snorts from those who know me well) and dispose of the colors I don’t like that my mother did like. I won’t ever use them. But let’s say boxes and boxes and bags of yarn of one kind or another.
Comment by Jenn — May 31, 2011 @ 8:51 am
You’re disposing of yarn!?!?!?!
Do you need my mailing address?
After all one can never have to much yarn!
Comment by Genko — June 1, 2011 @ 11:13 am
I have to second Arthur about “Once a Hero.” Interestingly enough, I first read it on a train ride. I took it along because I figured it would be light and easy to read on the train. At some point, though, I had to put it down and grab my mala and chant, because it affected me so intensely, and I felt it so personally. I’ve since bought my own copy and read it a couple of times (just finished it again last night, as a matter of fact), and find it reassuring and uplifting. Thanks for writing it.
Comment by elizabeth — June 3, 2011 @ 8:22 am
Jenn: not yet. I haven’t even unpacked all her yarn yet, but I am reasonably sure it’s all wool, and not machine washable, and thus can’t be used for the Linus Connection projects.
Jim: I can work on trains very comfortably, but not on airplanes. And the scenery is better. I can live without Wifi for the length of a train trip (though some have it.) I had a spare bag with me; I don’t really want to come home with more stuff than I took.
Comment by elizabeth — June 3, 2011 @ 8:38 am
Genko: I’m glad Once a Hero worked for you…I know the feeling of having to quit it for awhile. Robin McKinley’s Deerskin took me years to get through. Buying books at a convention is always a problem because conventions are on weekends, and unless you take another full day, none of the shipping places are open. Dealers may ship for you if they have time, but they’re on the road a lot and they don’t have mail clerks. I hate to bother them. Some hotels can arrange shipping, even on a weekend or holiday, but not all: the Hunt Valley Marriott isn’t one of the super helpful ones.
Iphinome: I could certainly use a squire from time to time, but not sure I could afford to take one along on trips. Which means that shlepping things to and from the trains and up and down the train steps would still be my problem.
Comment by Jenn — June 3, 2011 @ 1:43 pm
WOOL!!!!!!
My hands are shaking so much I can hardly type.
Perfect for mittens and toques and socks. Good for homeless in the north and charity sales.
I am always available:)
Comment by elizabeth — June 3, 2011 @ 9:09 pm
I have to have time to unpack boxes and bags and catalog it, then divvy up what I’ll use and what’s disposable (but only to other knitters and crocheters, of course.)