I have to admit, this week feels a tad interminable.
While I did get some things crossed off my list today, including taking our huge comforter to the laundromat to exorcise it of what appeared to be some rancid dog or cat barf (probably deposited in hostile protest to our being away for several days), I’m feeling a little stressed by the re-acclimation process.
For instance, I’m having a hard time remembering what day it is.
More CLEs In My Future
Tomorrow I head back to Philadelphia for more CLE (Continuing Legal Education). Over the course of the next two days I’ll be brushing up on my familiarity with mediation, with an eye toward application of these skills in the context of Parenting Coordination.
I’ll admit it: I’m a little leery about driving all the way into Center City in the Grey Ghost. Although I have to tell you: she passed inspection! And I drove her home from the Toyota ‘spa’ today and the Red Triangle of Death (RT of D) didn’t come on even once!
In fact, I was so excited to think she still might have some spunk in her that I set up an appointment for Friday to have her ‘ass put back in place.’ Remember when I displayed my Herculean strength and pulled the entire rear entry assembly off the back of her a couple months ago?
Yes, well, the duct tape has been holding the ass-embly on quite ably, but I’ve been crunched by not being able to open the trunk of the car since then. Time to get it fixed if Toyota really feels they’ve fixed the RT of D (and engine light) issue.
So I’ll probably take the 7:00 a.m. train tomorrow.
I was up and out of the house by 6:30 a.m. There was only about two inches of snow, with an icy crust on top, covering everything when I pulled out of the driveway. Sleet ticked heavily on my windshield as I headed toward the train station, my car making fresh slushies as I approached the much better cleared main roads.
It didn’t take long before I realized I was not going to make it to the Doylestown station in time to catch the express train. However, I reasoned that if I just accepted my lot, didn’t try to make it to Doylestown in time, and instead just headed to the main hub on the line, Lansdale, I just might beat the train there and manage to catch it as it passed through.
Yes, it looked promising, especially when I took in just how few cars were on the road. Apparently I was not the only person who’d read the weather forecast from the night before. Of course, I’d ignored it (or at least not let it stop me from making my trek to Philadelphia), while many others obviously had heeded the warnings. Bonus for me.
Forgot My Supply
I must admit, I felt a bit bummed out at the thought of parking at Lansdale. It would be a trek from the whatever parking spot I might find to the station, and I still had to buy my ticket. I remembered my hybrid gait as I loped across that parking lot many a time – half run, quarter walk, quarter shuffle and…Oh! Crap. The quarters. THE QUARTERS.
Only as I was calculating the quickest route to Lansdale did I remember that I would have to feed a massive amount of quarters into an archaic, so-cold-it-felt-like-the-top-layer-of-my-fingertips-would-stick-to-it, gunmetal gray contraption, linking my numbered parking spot with payment of the fee. In quarters.
My heart sank. Until this very moment, I’d forgotten why Karl had always kept the cup holder in my Prius stocked with tons of quarters. It was for the train station parking spots from back in the day when I commuted every day. And I was in a double bind this morning, because not only wasn’t I driving my car (which still contains a decent amount of quarters in the cup holder simply out of habit), but I also had no quarters in my loaner!
I shrugged it off. The best I could hope for was perhaps they’d implemented some sort of debit card system. Whatever, I thought to myself. I’ll deal with it.
An Oasis in a Parking Lot Wasteland
Well, imagine my surprise and delight when I pulled into Lansdale station, headed back toward the semi-vast parking lot I recalled from years ago, and discovered this:
Photo – L. Weikel
Can you hear the chorus of “Alleluias” that echoed through my being when I saw that big, beautiful, brick edifice which had seemingly miraculously risen like an oasis from the wasteland that had previously occupied that area?
Oh my. I was practically giddy.
And the parking was free!
After purchasing my round-trip ticket, I had only to wait about four minutes before my chariot arrived. What a rush of great feelings coursed through me as I made my way into the front car, only to realize that it was a “Quiet Car.” Ooooh! I think these had only recently been implemented when I stopped commuting a dozen years ago. This one was serious about the quiet. You could practically hear a pin drop. The silence was delicious.
More Like a Rain Day – But That’s OK
The sleet pouring from the sky where I lived had shifted to slush by the time I got to Lansdale. And upon arriving in Philadelphia, rain was gushing from the sky. I realized I could have driven in with ease.
But I’m delighted I gave myself the gift of taking ‘my’ train again today. (The reason I put quotation marks around the word my is because I realize I share the R5 with thousands of other riders in the area. But I grew extremely fond of the R5 in my four years of commuting, and I feel quite proprietary. Riding the R5 brought me great joy and serenity in those years.)
I’m heartened by the improvements SEPTA has made (not least being that freaking awesome parking garage in Lansdale!), but also the improved Quiet Ride and the overall condition of the station at Market Street East (the name of which has now changed to Jefferson).
A lot has changed since I was commuting regularly to Philadelphia. I don’t think I would have comprehended as viscerally the fact that it literally has been a dozen years since I worked at the Women’s Law Projecthad I not experienced first-hand the changes to ‘my’ train – the R5.
So…I’m grateful to have had my version of a Snow Day, and the opportunity it gave me to indulge in and appreciate the unique pleasures of commuting by rail.
I still love my train. And I wholeheartedly support investment in our infrastructure that will support expansion and continued improvements to our rail system (including – especially – parking garages). (Wink.)
Oh, how I would normally be loving this evening’s weather forecast! I’ve not yet reached that place of bah-humbug-ism that gets cranky over a potential snow day, and if I haven’t by this late date (read: age), I probably never will.
But I do find myself lamenting the fact that I cannot revel in the anticipation of a day of unexpectedly being forced to stay at home. My revelry is stifled by the need for me to be in the very heart of Philadelphia tomorrow morning. By 8:30 a.m., ideally. That’s early.
Winter Storm Warning
It’s early considering how every time I’ve driven there over the past couple of weeks I’ve hit nearly standstill traffic just about eight miles outside the city. I’d be trucking along, making great time, and wham. All of a sudden, everything slows to the closest thing to being a stop without actually stopping. It is maddening.
But now, drastically complicating matters, there’s a Winter Storm Warning in effect from now until midnight tomorrow night. And under the heading “Precautionary /Preparedness Actions” the Weather Alert states: “A Winter Storm Warning means significant amounts of snow, sleet and ice will make travel very hazardous or impossible.” The emphasis is mine – all mine.
Ordinarily, I don’t mind driving in snow. In fact, I usually relish the challenge and special effort it takes to navigate well in snow. (Ice, as they say, is another matter entirely. Nobody “drives” in icy conditions. Rather, they get behind the wheel and hope there’s no one else anywhere near them when they have to brake or turn a corner, for momentum is everything on ice. Let’s face it: ice can result in some scary shit.) But I don’t even have my own car to drive tomorrow. I have a loaner from my mechanic because my beloved Prius is having “coolant issues.”
Not My Car
I’d make a crack about her having hot flashes but they’re actually cold flashes and I wouldn’t find it amusing anyway. The poor car has 306,540 miles or so under her belt. She’s allowed to have thermal regulation anomalies. She’s earned her pecadilloes!
Much as I don’t usually mind driving in snow, (a) we could have up to 2/10ths of an inch of ice lurking under the snow tomorrow; and (b) I’m obviously not as ‘connected’ to the loaner as I am to my Prius. I prefer, if I”m going to be driving in snow, feeling like the car I’m driving is an extension of myself. And after logging over 306,500 miles in my car, I can safely say I know my car and how to maneuver her in dicey weather. I can’t say quite the same for the loaner.
Septa, Oh Septa – It’s Been a While
Of course, my other option is to take the train. That would be a trip down memory lane! When I commuted to Center City during the four years I worked at the Women’s Law Project, I adored my train, the Septa R5, and the extended opportunity it gave me, morning and night, to either write in my journal or read lots of books.
But alas, in order to get to my course on time, I will have to catch either the 6:30 or the 7:00 a.m. train. That’s early. And from the sound of the forecasting, it’ll be the in the think of the storm. Did I mention I’m not a morning person? Ha – yeah, I think I did.
Whatever tomorrow morning has in store for me, I need to get to bed now if I’m going to face it with any equanimity whatsoever.
Here’s hoping you’re reading this from the warm coziness of your home, having decided to stay home today and enjoy a good old fashioned “Snow Day.” Indulge your senses, whether they’re taking in the crystalline beauty of the precipitation as you take a walk outside or melting into the snuggly goodness of being wrapped in a blanket and losing yourself in a book for a few hours.
And even if you have to go to work, give yourself permission to tap into the excitement you know lies deep in your heart – that “Snow Day!” exuberance we all felt as little kids.
