scenery

I have discussed the train aspect of the train rides, but I never mentioned the rest of that experience. Most of it lies in the sights. For much of the first 24 hours, the train followed a wide river, clear to its depths. There is nothing quite like a mountain river. It clarifies the rocks and trees and colors around it. It makes the difference between an impressionistic painting and a realist painting. A meadow is nothing. A meadow with children and animals skipping through it is everything. Imagine a high rocky mountain. Now add swaths of evergreen trees and groups of birches turning yellow. It is beautiful, yes? Now add a wide stream skipping through the scene, carving out rocks and swimming though trees. The scene becomes breathtaking.

And then came the plains, flat and brown for hours on end. Sometimes a different landmass piques the interest, but most often not. The most notable thing perhaps was the coyote I saw talking with a raven. The raven hovered by the coyote, almost touching beak to nose. I understand how some writers animate the animals in their stories.

Then back to fall colors and quaint towns nestled in among the hills of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The land of many lakes (Minnesota) lived up to its name. it seemed like every time I looked out the window we passed another little lake, some hardly bigger than a pond. Also, the train stations switched to historic looking little depots, the kind a town passes ordinances protecting on the strength of its historical significance.

When arriving at a large city by train, you arrive by tunnel. So my first view of Chicago was of the dark underside. There is a reason people rush up and out from a train. Even through the fatigue, everyone wants to get out and see the upside of the city.