Today I stood on the BNSF railroad tracks that run near my parents home in Shawnee, Ks. I chose to stand there because the sound of trains stirs my memories. They are connected to many parts of my life. I recall the train that ran by my cousin's house in Missouri that I stayed at when I was just a kid. We had fun each summer, playing on the tracks, riding their horses, exploring an old abandoned grave yard, playing in the hayloft of the barn, and watching the workers in the cotton fields (usually his older siblings). There were always train whistles near my home where I grew up in Englewood. My daughter lived near the train track in Fort Collins, when she went to CSU. The many times I stayed with her, we listened to the train in the middle of the night. It reminds me of looking at a "dream house" with my husband, as we were looking at a house that was perfect, but the track was right behind the house. G. is not that fond of trains. Where I live now, I can feel the ground rumble a little and hear the whistle of the trains on the track about a mile and 1/2 away. I love to stand in the subway stations in NYC as trains roar by, swirling everything around, again as I visit my daughter. When I stay here in Shawnee, I hear them at all times of the day and night, they are about 1/2 mile from here. I read a sign near the tracks - and didn't know that some of the trains are unmanned and run by remote. I love the sound of the whistle and the wheels rumbling the earth as they roll on by. I can't imagine a world without trains or being able to hear their lonesome calls in the night.
Where I Stand Sunday is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. If you'd like to join me by posting a photo on Sunday of places you've been on your blog/photo hosting site/website, leave a comment on this post telling me where I can find you/your photo and I'll add a link to my sidebar so others can find you and I will also let Fibra Artysta know, so she can you on her web sidebar if you'd like.
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