Ridin' the Green A
With the last few days warming up, and all the rainy thunderstorms that moved through on Thursday, most of the snow has melted. On one hand this is good in that the streets are clear of the packed down, slick as ice snow covering and I can now ride my bike again. On the other hand, this is bad because the ground is frozen and the run off has flooded some streets as well as basements. Thankfully our basement, as nasty as it is, hasn't flooded, but a friend of mine is working hard to stay ahead of the water trickling into his.
The sun shining, along with the warmer temps, spurred me to take the bus home yesterday after work. Hubby had texted, saying just let him know when I needed to be picked up, but I liked the idea of the bus followed by the short, just-shy-of-a-mile walk from Uptown Circle. Since I can ride the bus for free, it just makes sense to use the service. And the walk was definitely needed after several hours of meetings. I could take a second bus that would drop me off a mere three blocks from home, but the walk helps me work off tension. I enjoy the alone time to just think, or not.
I've ridden the bus a couple of times since getting my new "ride the bus for free ID," and each time I've thought how nice it is to be able to sit and not have to worry about being in the driver's seat. The last time I rode, a former student of mine boarded the bus right behind me. His first comment was, "Why are you riding the bus?" My response was why not? It's free. I don't have to worry about traffic. I can read if I want. I can text if I want. I can write if I want. I can sleep if I want (though I've been warned that someone might steal my lunch if I fall asleep). My favorite thing to do, though, is daydream. Sure, it takes a half hour to get home between the bus and walk combined, instead of the twenty minutes it takes when I ride my bike, or the ten minutes when Hubby picks me up, but the half hour of down time is priceless to me.
Another aspect of riding the bus that I truly enjoy is watching the people getting on and off. The best vantage point for people watching is definitely from the back of the bus, so I try to get a seat there. I'm sure some individuals have wondered why the woman in the back is staring at them as they get on, so it wouldn't surprise me if I become known as the Creepy Staring Woman on the Green A. It's research!
Hopefully all this "research" will turn into characters in a short story, or maybe they'll end up in one of the three novels I have going (novels that aren't making much progress these days). In the meantime, I'll continue riding the bus to gather more information, or to read, or text, or write, or sleep. Or daydream.
The sun shining, along with the warmer temps, spurred me to take the bus home yesterday after work. Hubby had texted, saying just let him know when I needed to be picked up, but I liked the idea of the bus followed by the short, just-shy-of-a-mile walk from Uptown Circle. Since I can ride the bus for free, it just makes sense to use the service. And the walk was definitely needed after several hours of meetings. I could take a second bus that would drop me off a mere three blocks from home, but the walk helps me work off tension. I enjoy the alone time to just think, or not.
I've ridden the bus a couple of times since getting my new "ride the bus for free ID," and each time I've thought how nice it is to be able to sit and not have to worry about being in the driver's seat. The last time I rode, a former student of mine boarded the bus right behind me. His first comment was, "Why are you riding the bus?" My response was why not? It's free. I don't have to worry about traffic. I can read if I want. I can text if I want. I can write if I want. I can sleep if I want (though I've been warned that someone might steal my lunch if I fall asleep). My favorite thing to do, though, is daydream. Sure, it takes a half hour to get home between the bus and walk combined, instead of the twenty minutes it takes when I ride my bike, or the ten minutes when Hubby picks me up, but the half hour of down time is priceless to me.
Another aspect of riding the bus that I truly enjoy is watching the people getting on and off. The best vantage point for people watching is definitely from the back of the bus, so I try to get a seat there. I'm sure some individuals have wondered why the woman in the back is staring at them as they get on, so it wouldn't surprise me if I become known as the Creepy Staring Woman on the Green A. It's research!
Hopefully all this "research" will turn into characters in a short story, or maybe they'll end up in one of the three novels I have going (novels that aren't making much progress these days). In the meantime, I'll continue riding the bus to gather more information, or to read, or text, or write, or sleep. Or daydream.
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