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May 7, 2017: Closer to Home

I am now on the Amtrak train, now about an hour away from Chicago. A train containing fuel cars is passing on my left. Big round tanks. How brave hobos are, to ride in the little red enclosures on top. I have not seen any hobos yet, but the train is passing fast. It’s an algebra problem. If train a is going 50 mph and train b is going 25 mph, and they are both the same length, how long will it take for train a to pass train b? I have no idea. I think that there is a formula involved in figuring this one out.

A quiet morning on the train. It’s impossible to sleep well on a train, when your bed is a seat. Last night I devised a



sleeping plan. I scrunched up on the seat, had two seats – I wrapped my jacket around my head and lay on one side for a bit. Then I laid on the other. This worked, sort of. The most anyone can hope for in the way of rest in such instances is – sort of.

I have both seats to myself the entire time. I spread my gear out on the floor – a gift bag and a thermal bag, my computer case, my backpack, and my now manure covered hiking boots – so those looking for seats did not consider sitting next to me. I got a good education when I was at college. For instance, I learned from a classmate how to keep people away. He would go into the school cafeteria, put coats and sweaters (worn for this occasion) on the table chairs – and no one bothered him. This way, he said “people thought the seats were taken.”

Thoughts of home (future tense) are now coming back to mind and superseding thoughts of my trip (past tense). I just emailed friends and let them know I was on my way home. I also recalled that this upcoming weekend that I have Bones for Life training. And I am going to need to let people know that I am going to need to work with people for my certification log.

I am also going to have to resume working on clinic stuff. Need to order copies of Susan Harris’s new book, Balance, Gaits, and Movement. Need to get the itineraries of those from out of state. And I need to remind people to pay up.

And I am thinking about my ponies and what I will be doing with them. Raudi, long distance rides in preparation for the upcoming CTR. Tinni, just out and about. Hrimmi, time on the trails. And Tyra, dear Tyra, time to get going on her riding horse training.

I want to also clean up and start working in my writing cabin.

I should have called this dispatch second spring because this is what I am going home to. And what about my next adventure? I’d of course like to go to Iceland; though I think I’d need to be a better rider. But first I need to take care of things on the home front. Oh yeah, and there is going to be new goat in our future. Lots going on, right now thankfully just in my head.

Next: 128. 5/8/17: On the Train Again

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