And Hour Of Peace...It Was Lovely

It's been a hectic weekend and a hectic summer. My daughter and I finished a run of Peter Pan in Ogden last August. After it ended, she was working a summer job and I was preparing for FanX, the comic convention that just ended. I feel like I've been running and running with little time to my own. And next week, I begin my autumn job--working at Lagoon's Frightmares.

It seems like I'm on a train that seldom stops.

Last Wednesday I took off work to help prepare for the upcoming convention. I'm glad I did--it was nice to have some time to prepare. I checked the train schedule, got a ride to the station, sat and waited for the train. I used to take the train several ties a week. Now, hardly ever.

I boarded and sat down, then the train pulled away. I had my backpack and my scooter. In twenty minutes the train would arrive, then I'd depart and make my way to another train, then the Salt Palace. It took about one hour from when I first sat and waited to when I walked in the convention center doors. And in that hour I didn't do the things I used to do, the things I always feel obligated to do, namely, get on-line, write something, check e-mails, listen to podcasts...you name it.

No...I didn't do that. I just sat and listened to the noise of the train, felt the car sway side to side, and thought about...well, not much, actually. It was nice.

The next three days were filled with making sure performances went well, panels were covered, and guests left entertained. I walked around a space with a hundred-thousand others and I did it for three days. It was amazing--it was exhausting. But, in the last week, there as one hour--as single hour when I didn't worry about all the stuff I usually worry about. I hope to do that again sometime soon.

As The Sunlight Spreads Across The Page...

The train decreased in speed as it took the gently turning corner. Sunlight filtered through the unwashed window and spread across the white page illuminating the words, allowing aging eyes to better see the script. As the train turned, the sun retreated leaving the book as it was before.

The scene made me think of watching a sporting event, namely a soccer match. Under a cloudless sky the unrelenting sun beams down on what appears to be an unblemished field of green. Unless the sun is directly overhead, shadows creep onto the pitch and if you're watching the event on television, the camera must adjust to the variant in lighting whenever action enters the darkened space.

But on the train, eyes--infinitely more advanced than any camera ever created by the hands of man--adjust automatically in nanoseconds, allowing the reader to continue learning more about a man called Ove without delay or interruption. It happens without fanfare and so quickly, it's almost unnoticeable. 

With the book stowed I stepped down from the train and made my way to the car and, thereafter, home. Since sitting on a train this afternoon reminded me of a soccer game, I wonder if, when I next watch a soccer game and the players wander into a darkened space and the camera needs to adjust, will I be reminded of reading on a train? Probably, unless the game's really really good.