A TRAIN RIDE IN THE FALL

 

We have watched Autumn slowly arriving in mountains across the wide terrain

but we decided on a unique way to experience it….

from an open air car…on one old-fashioned train.

Sitting in our car waiting…my faith in humanity was, once again, restored

watching a beautiful variety of people…as they all climbed aboard.

People of all colors, shapes and sizes… ebullient and wide-eyed

smiling, laughing and sharing with one another…standing side by side

Most of my attention however was spent on the children…and their faces of surprise

I saw it in their smiles…it was reflected in their eyes… 

 

We headed through the mountains…over rivers, roads and streams….

on a train of 20 cars or more…pulled by an engine driven my steam…

The colors did not disappoint…on our ride through nature…

unsullied and untainted…

It felt like we were in the middle…

of a masterpiece being painted. 

As the adults watched the children’s reaction…we all smiled

for they reminded everyone on the train…what it’s like to be a child.

To be filled with so much enthusiasm…pointing at everything you see…

lumping up and down…crying out…”Look at the color of that tree!” 

Somewhere on the ride I noticed everyone…even the older people like me

Jumping up and down…pointing and crying out…”Look at the color of that tree.”

And looking around the train car…I shook my head…and smiled

when I realized everyone on that train that day…for a little while..was a child.

I wonder if the huge problems facing the world…are really not so huge at all

and could be solved if we all go together…and took a train ride in the fall.