Erin's Bus Dailies

Sudden smoke on the bus prompts the sudden ceasation of forward motion.  

In the pouring down rain. 

Almost revitalizing… and suddenly reminded of how little your ‘rain’ coat is waterproofed.  

Oh, for the adventure! 

It occurred to me this morning, whilst hustling down the sidewalk… 

…that bus drivers are pretty fantastic. 

Not only do they have to put up with the tremendously horrendous traffic in this gorgeous city… but they have to put up with all of us. 

Cranky, sleepy, annoyed… sometimes confused… non-fully-caffeinated existential driftwood. 

I have yet to experience an cranky bus driver. 

On either the 312 or the 522… even though my experiences are quite limited… these bus drivers are awesome.

And not thanked very often…

Smile and say, ‘thank you’… they make traffic painless.  

We take them where we can… over my shoulder… bus in motion. 

I’ve grown fond of the middle, tall seats on the 312… the ones that face the center of the bus. 

But one has to be ready… they may be nearly full. Landing one’s very much NOT svelte arse into a tiny-ish space between two grown people, isn’t always as smooth as one would like. 

It is essential to already have your backpack dangling from one shoulder…

It becomes like a flawless, well-rehearsed dance move… enter backwards, backpack, (gracefully-ish) flies off… rear-end effortlessly falls right in. 

Praying to Gawd no one is actually watching you do this….  that would just ruin it. 

Besides the start of baseball in Springtime… the Fall is my favorite time of year. 

Now that I am a daily bus commuter, the encroaching cool, crisp mornings are a delight. 

Even this morning… the sun, no longer high enough at 6:40am, to peek over the horizon; shown a gorgeous, warm light. 

There’s something quite peaceful, leaving the house before most people have put shoes on; that allows for a bit of reflection. 

Until the snow falls… 

When you suddenly realize you have the road of your work route memorized… 

…when the 312 sails over the spine-jarring holes in the concrete of Lake City Way, just before NE 145th… AND we are almost home. 

The eerie light has returned… gorgeous, but ready for a good, hard rain. 

And I missed the 522… so worth it.