Skip to main content

Commuter Musings

I took the bus/train today. Gas prices, common sense, and some guilt brought on by a depressing episode of This American Life about global warming convinced me to give the corrupted public transit system another go. 

And truthfully, it's not that big a deal. With traffic as bad as its been, I get home at the same time either way. The only difference is that I have to leave the house at 6:30 to catch the train, when normally I could leave a little after 7 in my car. 

I know it's silly, but those 30 minutes kill me. Not because it's early (I'm a morning person) but because it's some of the best 30 minutes of my day. Dan and I get ready together, the dog shoves his face in my lap so hard he falls over and then looks up at me like I invented pizza and chew toys, and the cat curls his entire body into our tiny bathroom sink at the exact moment I decide to brush my teeth. 

Dan turns on the news and we make fun of how condescending the anchors are to the morning guests, and at the last possible moment I can leave and not be late, I kiss him goodbye. 

The animals follow me to the door; Jeoffrey stands on top of the fridge and Rev holds a sock in his mouth expectantly as I close the door behind me, and that's exactly how they look when I get home 11 hours later. 

It's selfish, but when the life you've made at home is so perfectly true to everything you didn't know you always wanted, you can't help but want every last moment of it that you can afford. 

On the upside, though, the frontrunner does cut right through the middle of my barn's trail system, so that makes for a nice morning horse fantasy. I'll take it. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Utah Lake Adventure and Other Musings.

It's been a wonderful fall. It seemed every tree has burst out in bright, hypnotizing gold this year, with hardly any red or orange, and I've been able to witness a lot of it. I'm immensely grateful to have the sort of work/life schedule where I can go out and enjoy the crisp air and changing colors and shocking beauty of fall. Unlike other years where I've had to tamp down my agony about the colder weather, for once, I was happy to put the summer behind me and walk into the future. In all honestly, this past spring and summer were maybe the most difficult I've traversed in my happy, comfortable first-world life. It's been a bit of a transition, leaving behind a good career and bustling office for a better career but lonelier landscape. Saying goodbye to my mare and finding her a better fit ultimately led to me taking a break from what has been an emotional, physical, social, therapeutic outlet and passion for me for many years, which in turn meant losing re...

A Balanced Life

Picking up the Copperpot on paint day at school (note the purple hair!) After coming back to work part time a month after I had the Copperpot, I was exhausted, shell shocked, and hyper aware of how tiny my baby still was. I couldn't fathom leaving her in anyone's arms but her grandmothers, and I was extremely lucky that those women took on that task so willingly in those early months to allow me to go back to work and try and figure things out.  When the maternity leave ran out and my baby was still tiny, despite the huge decision ahead of me, it wasn't even a decision. I couldn't send my newborn to a giant daycare. Or a babysitter. That's not to say that I think women who do are less good mothers - in fact, I think they're 100 times stronger and braver than I will ever be.  So I decided to quit my office job and pursue my side project of freelance writing as full time as time would allow while still being home with the critter. In just a few mont...