Ashes to the West Wind

"A west wind is a wind that blows from the west, in an eastward direction."

In Western tradition, it has usually been considered the mildest and most propitious of the directional winds.

In Greek mythology, Zephyrus was the personification of the west wind and the bringer of light spring and early summer breezes.

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote of the "swete breth" of Zephryus, and a soft, gentle breeze may be referred to as a zephyr, as in Shakespeare's Cymbeline.

"They are as gentle / As zephyrs blowing below the violet, / Not wagging his sweet head."


Ashes to Ashes - Dust to Dust

I know, I know....  I just got in town a month ago, and I'm already leaving again. 

Well folks, "Shift Happens!" 

Since the passing of my dog, a little over a month ago, my grief must have been overshadowed by a newfound sense of self.

I often feel like I'm running from the realization of Brandy's passing.  I mean... I really haven't had much time to actually grieve.  I feel as long as I keep myself busy, I do not have to deal with the many different emotions which always seem to be right there —denial, anger, guilt, and sorrow —all incredibly painful to bear.

One of my fondest memories of Brandy, was when we traveled across country from California to South Carolina, by way of Michigan.  I didn't think Brandy was going to do well during the trip, since she had a terrible fear of vehicles.  To my surprise, Brandy was fine a couple of hours into the trip, and by the time we reached our destination, her fear was long gone.

I remember feeling great, that I was able to be there with her while she got through one of her fears. 

Isn't that one of the facets of love?  Isn't that what relationships are about? 

I've thought long and hard about holding on to Brandy's ashes, and I have decided the best way of "letting go" would be to scatter her ashes across the country. 

"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Genesis 3:19

I believe life is a process in which we are all linked.  We are one, and we are all connected.

"We merge and reemerge. That which was earth returns to earth.  That which was air returns to air. That which was water returns to water. That which was fire returns to fire."

At the rising of the sun and at its going down.  I will remember her.

At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter.  I will remember her.

At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring.  I will remember her.

At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer.  I will remember her.

At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn.  I will remember her.

At the beginning of the year and when it ends.  I will remember her.

At the beginning of each day when I open my eyes.  I will remember her.

At the end of each night, before I close my eyes.  I will remember her.

When I am weary and in need of strength.  I will remember her.

When I am lost and sick at heart.  I will remember her.

When I experience joy and wish to share it.  I will remember her.

For as long as I live, she too will live.  For she is now a part of me as I remember her.

All Aboard! the California Zephyr

Amtrak's Superliner Service to Chicago offers a wide variety of ways to explore the beauty, romance and exciting history of the western frontier by highlighting the scenery and historic landmarks along the route of the California Zephyr.

The discovery of gold in the California hills brought thousands of pioneers by land and sea to the golden city of San Francisco. Eventually, the route of the historic overland trek would include railroads, telegraph lines and way stations throughout the hostile unmapped territory. In 1869, the nation was linked by the first transcontinental railroad when the Golden Spike was driven at Promontory, Utah.

These are some of the same lines which the California Zephyr follows today.

This would be my first encounter with Amtrak traveling from California to Chicago, then DC, and finally my destination...Richmond, Virginia.

To my surprise, dinner is still served on china (Amtrak China) with silverware and white tablecloths.  I enjoyed nothing more than having a wonderful dinner in the dining room and watching the world pass by.

The cross-country journey includes the awesome challenge of crossing the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. Many of the cities and towns in the wild west survived boom and bust times because they were on the railroad lines that make up the route of the California Zephyr today.

My Amtrak trip continued over the next 4 days as I traveled to and from both coasts.  

The scenery was spectactular especially traveling thru the Rocky Mountains from San Francisco to Denver.  I was a little surprised that some of the scenery was the back side of rusting cities.

The romance of railroading has directly influenced the history of America since 1830 when the steam engine "Tom Thumb" pulled the first passenger car 13 miles from Baltimore to Ellicott's Mill, Maryland.

Today's railroad cars have come a long way since the first one in 1830.

The initial "stage coach" type of passenger car quickly gave way to the double-track car that was the four runner of those we know today. Soon many of the larger cities along the Atlantic seaboard were visited by the travelers who arrived on the "exotic cars," as they were called.

The first passenger sleeping car was introduced on what was then known as the Cumberland Valley Railroad. It provided three tiers of bunks on one side of the car for weary passengers desiring a few hours' sleep while traveling between Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and points in the Cumberland Valley region of Pennsylvania and Maryland.

By Acts of Congress in 1862 and 1864,the construction of the first transcontinental railroad was undertaken. Starting with the American Civil War, which military historians sometimes call "the first railroad war," the nation's rail network became a major factory in military logistics. During the Spanish American and both World Wars, tremendous amounts of material and millions of troops were moved efficiently by train. During World War I the Federal Government assumed control of the nation's railroads,and directed their operation through the United States Railroad Administration.

The railroads were returned to their owners in 1920.

A new chapter in railroad history began when the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK) - - a quasi-public corporation, dedicated to providing modern, efficient, attractive service, began operating the nation's passenger railroads on May 1, 1971.

For the first time in history, a unified, centrally-managed, nationwide rail passenger network will provide uniform and rising standards of service for all United States citizens.

Today, it's regarded as an outmoded, vestigial form of transportation, doomed to extinction.

Will Amtrak Rise Again?

Like the fabled Phoenix, can Amtrak arise from the ashes of the past to become a key element in the nation's balanced transportation system of tomorrow?

The Chiefs, the Limiteds, the Zephyrs. They were more than passenger trains. They surrounded us with impeccable comfort and tantalized our palates with elegant dining fare as they whisked into a world of romance and mystique.

During the 1940s the passenger train began fighting a battle against the airplane and private automobile. By the 1960s the passenger train was rarely considered as a means of travel. Schedules were erratic, trains were run down, and more often than not the journey was a miserable experience.

The government’s peculiar "National Railroad Passenger Corporation" has fallen on hard times, halting service and distrupted the governments monopoly.  

Maybe I’ll just stay here Virginia until they get things right, or they go out of business. You know a country is really in trouble when the trains don’t run on time.

Of course, others might conclude that a country is in trouble when it has operations like Amtrak in the first place. Indeed, the vast majority of Americans who somehow have lived happy and full lives without access to government rail will have a different take on Amtrak's recent afflictions.

Two reasons come to mind that haven’t yet made the mainstream media.

First, many view this incident as a bald attempt at budget-building. Since its inception, the rail service was to be self-financed out of its profits, which is another one of those ideas that looks good in theory but that has yet to work in practice--because it hasn’t had any profits in 30 years of operation. Private firms, when faced with such performance, simply shut down, freeing up their assets to others who think they can use them more efficiently. Not so with government production.

Amtrak’s losses are socialized.

Amtrak has no intention—or incentive—to reform itself because it is free from normal market profit-and-loss concerns.

This is what happens when you starve a business for 60 years. It becomes stunted.

Our passenger rail system is stunted because of longstanding government policy that thoughtlessly, absentmindedly, let some wonderful American-made technology slip away.  There is no doubt that President Obama is committed to upgrading intercity passenger rail. But last month his administration failed to exert optimal leadership by spreading federal stimulus funds far and wide rather than concentrating on two or three corridors that would give us trains equal to those in Europe and China.

No one said that building a passenger rail network worthy of the 21st century would be easy or cheap.

But neither was the transcontinental railroad nor the interstate highway system that transformed overland travel in America in the past.

Rise from the ashes; Liting a flame which shall smoulder until it reaches the intensity of an inferno leaving a path of scorched earth in its wake, henceforth, in a new season a garden of flowers shall bloom and make contact with the secret that has been embedded within. Like the alchemy spells from the Dark Ages, and the spiritually enlightened look towards the dawn of the New Age.

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