ARE WE THERE YET?

Usually when you have to ask that, you aren't, of course. . . . so this is what happened to the best of my recollection:

On the evening of March 6th, Sunday, my sweet daughter got me up to the train station in Gainesville and the AMTRAK to DC was just a few minutes late . . . by about 9:20pm we were on our way. I had a little roomette sleeper and it was a different version than any I had traveled in previously. The conductor and the train car attendant were both very kind. Since I was very tired, I asked to have the bed made up and was asleep by 9:50pm.

As I have mentioned before, I love train travel, so was really looking forward to the overnight trip. The sounds and motions of life on the rails can trigger deep sleep and lots of joyful memories for me.

We were supposed to arrive at the Washington, D.C. Union Station around 9:30am. It is common for passenger trains to sometime have to stop along a siding and wait for faster freight trains to past. But all of a sudden a bit past midnight the train jolted to a stop and the top of my head clunked on the head board, my left knee and left hip got bumped into the little tray apparatus, and I came awake in an eerie stillness.

Only being able to see a bit of electric light on the edges of the roomette curtains, I groggily sat up and opened them. In a surreal kind of light I saw a small hillside with what seemed to be a matted straw lawn leading up to a house that had a roof reminiscent of Australian farm house roofs.

Some woods were visible either side of the house and lawn, all skeletal with leafless trees . . .dangling kudzu and other vines . . . a bit spooky and creepy. Every once in a while some guys with hard hats walked back and forth under the window and every once and a while the conductor and or the train car attendant walked purposefully past the outside of the door of my compartment.

I had the distinct impression of reflected images in wavering and kind of smoky light . . . and my imagination seemed fooled into seeing gryphons walking out of the woods and over to the door of the house. And I'm SURE that I was dreaming about the circus train wreck scene from The Greatest Show on Earth that great old circus movie with Charlton Heston and Jimmy Stewart . . . Betty Hutton, et al --

Sometimes the light wavered and there was also the sound of a freight train going by behind us.

I tried hard to stay awake until the train started moving again, but I'm really not sure how much I was awake and how much I was asleep until around 5am. Then I headed to breakfast around 6:30am,as soon as possible.

It was in the dining car that I heard the story of what had happened. Apparently an abandoned SUV was on the track and the train hit it. No one was hurt on the train and no one was in or around the car . . .

Report About Train Accident

First responders and news crews had been there, but they were on the side of the train that I couldn't see.

We got into Union Station on the most gorgeous spring day possible. A very kind Red Cap named Lance helped me get to the rental car desk and to my car. I was still kind of dreamy and semi-conscious . . . a bit dissociated, but I know my way around DC, having lived there for most of 17 years from the late 80s through the early years of this new millennium.

I drove to the Silver Diner in Clarendon and got some lunch, and then checked into my hotel in Arlington. Took a nap and then headed up to see a good fiend who lives in Takoma Park. We had dinner at a lovely Japanese restaurant and tried to see a movie, but it was horrible and we left early.

As we were walking to the parking deck, it seemed like my neck, shoulders, hip and knee were sore in a way that shouldn't have been since I had taken some pain meds for the fibromyalgia around 8:30pm. Knowing that sometimes symptoms of whiplash and soft tissue damage can show up even 24 hours after the trauma, I thought that might have been why.

After dropping my friend off, I thought the best move would be to stop at the Veterans Administration Medical Center and get checked out. So from about 10:30pm Monday night until 5:00am Tuesday morning,I was very well taken care of by the good and professional folks in the ER, in the CT scan office . . . etc.

They have these warm blankets and I felt very pampered. Always love being in the waiting room area with my fellow vets and family members.

The diagnosis was a slight concussion and some other slight bruises, etc. Wasn't supposed to be out in the sun much and supposed to rest. Since the funeral at Arlington National Cemetery was scheduled for 1 pm on Wednesday, I trusted I would have enough rest and some good food before that time.

Tried to make it to the family dinner at 7:30pm on Tuesday night, but laid down to rest for 45 minutes before getting ready for it. But after talking to my son-in-love Daniel and grandsons Seth and Jude around 6:00pm, I next opened my eyes around 8:10am.

That was a bit of a shock, and I was just hoping it wasn't Thursday instead of Wednesday.

It wasn't.

Then the rest of the day was beautiful and holy and memorable.

If you want to see a good film about Arlington, here is a URL for -- Gardens of Stone

So . . . that's the update, Beloved. Hope your days and weeks have been going well. May the Lord continue to bless and keep you and yours,