All Aboard

I am on the train back to Brooklyn, and am writing this somewhere by Batavia, NY (and proofreading somewhere by Rome, although I'll be posting it when I get back, as there is no internetz on the train). I hear you all breathe a collective sigh of relief that this blog is back, Ha-Ha. I should be hitting there about 8 hours from now. And how will I keep myself occupied until then? Here are some notes from the road (or rather, track.)
1. Gosh, this stretch is bumpy. The computer is shaking. I am anticipating some sort of freezing on the tracks which will slow us down some (this usually happens.) Actually, we’re slowing down right now. Aaannd now we are stopping. Now we are going again! (vicarious thrills; I promise and I deliver.)
2. It is a good thing I have plenty of snacks with me. I’m a train snacker (which prevents me from biting my nails). This time I am lucky to have leftover pizza (with pesto and mushrooms, oh my!), pretzels, and all the candy from my Christmas stocking, which includes (but is not limited to) candy cigarettes (eating now), candy canes, and peppermint-chocolate stick things. Oh, the prevalence of mint is due to the fact that I get motion sick and that seems to help. Plus I’ve got a stash of Dramamine, just in case.
3. The train is REALLY not crowded. I think there are four people on my car. That’ll probably change the closer we get to the city.
4. I should probably use this time to update my resume, but I probably will not do that (note: by the time we got to Poughkeepsie I was so bored that I did, in fact, update my resume.)
5. Instead, I am going to watch Up, which my sister got me for Christmas—for anyone who hasn’t seen it, it is lovely. I cried within the first 10 minutes because I am a huge sap, but it is sweetly funny and deals with love and loss and adventure; and yes it is Pixar!
6. I will be glad to be back in Brooklyn. I missed it.
7. I am going to be sad not to be in Jamestown. I miss it.
8. I miss Geneva, too.
9. I really enjoy this train route, especially as I have a window seat. As barren as the landscape is this time of year, it is beautiful—I love the rivulets of frozen water and the starkness of the trees against the sky, which right now is a pale robins egg blue. I’ve counted five hawks so far, and a bunch (a brace?) of pheasant, wild turkeys, and deer. When we pass the Hudson it’s even better, although it will be dark by the time I get there. Now we’re passing a series of frozen ponds.
10. Two plugs for Western New York stuff: Forte, which is a very tasty restaurant and bar in Jamestown, makes White Russians with chocolate vodka. I didn’t actually get one, but I sampled my friend’s, and it was good stuff. (Aunt Sue, as a White Russian connoisseur, I thought you might like to take note of this.) Also, Wegmans has introduced a line of vegetarian soups. I have Butternut Squash packed, and will report back.
11. My cousin told me once to pick carefully what song you listen to when beginning a journey, as it is something you will remember. Traveling music, as it were. I have some stand-bys (America—Simon and Garfunkel, Beethoven’s 6th Symphony, Hey Jack Kerouac—10,000 Maniacs, Sweet Jane—Velvet Underground, New York, New York whenever I enter the city—corny!) but this time I went with Mausam and Escape from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack—it makes you want to drive fast and dance. What is your journeying music??