When I have to travel… I’m uncomfortable, discombobulated, homesick. But since I do have to travel about four times a year, I want to teach myself how to do it with less discomfort.
Truck Driving Woman
She is, she told me, a professional long-haul truck driver, steering eighteen-wheelers with enormous trailers across big swatches of this county.
Throwing Apples at Indians
Every time I ride the Southwest Chief East or West from Lamy, New Mexico—my preferred way of traveling—I meet at least one fascinating fellow traveler.
The Silver Fountain: A Granddaughter’s Dream
I have passed on my fascination with trains to at least one of my granddaughters.
Talking the Train Talk
Everywhere I travel on Amtrak, I meet people who are dedicated to avoiding planes.
Staying Put
I still don’t want to go anywhere but if I go I want it to be on a train.
You May Find Showering Easier While Seated
We are an odd bunch, we people who ride the cross country trains.
Dreaming The Dream of Modern Life
They are taking our train away, eliminating Colorado and New Mexico from the line that has stopped at Lamy, New Mexico since 1887; there is some problem with the tracks in Kansas, no one wants to pay for their repair, and so in two years my beloved Southwestern Chief may be southwestern no more, routed down through Texas, leaving us stranded.
Ten Favorites: She’s the Woman Wearing a Red Hat
Our books are expensive and employ language that is rapidly becoming obsolete. They are sold in bookstores, which are themselves, special, separate, threatened, and rare. These books are written slowly, sometimes painfully, and edited slowly, and also sometimes with pain, all to conform to a standard: what serious literature ought to be. But to uphold a standard that no longer means anything to most people seems an exercise in futility.
She’s the Woman Wearing a Red Hat
Our books are expensive and employ language that is rapidly becoming obsolete. They are sold in bookstores, which are themselves, special, separate, threatened, and rare.