Journey On the Rocks
Allegheny rail train has been rolling along since dawn.
I can hear the patchy sounds of the horn ushered by the wind.
Sounds at first are muffled but become distinct as the train gets closer.
Gulls hovering over the waves that clash and thunder.
I enjoy walking the tracks alongside of the Atlantic ocean in Richfield bay, south of Naraganset.
Perhaps you have seen me with my scrim tail hat sitting on the trestle.
Trains were of great interest to me when I was just a youngster.
Brings back many memories in which my grandfather shared.
You see he was a railroad man. A locomotive maintenance man.
Working for the Boston and Maine railroad, in Waltham Mass.
An artist he was ,could draw trains with pencil that would take your breath away. Every detail was sketched. Including numbers on the cars. He kept log books of trains coming into the station.
Had a lot of timetables from around New England, railroad magazines, and even made wooden trains as well as he drew them.
So when I hear a whistle, I flash back to the train that maybe be bringing him home from work. But he didn’t get off here. Got off at the largest station up in the clouds.
Blow the whistle again papa!
I called him papa
The tracks veered off, I continued walking towards the sand dunes which divide the shore from the main land. No one is
Sprawled on the beach, it’s too cold, only a glimpse or two of the sun slicing through the puffy clouds. But I like to walk in the
fresh air and hear nature’s various calls. It’s motivating and propels my steps. “a little pep in my step’
Never do I write while walking, I tuck my thoughts in my digest
for later. I take pictures in my mind, develop them into thoughts which them forms into meaning and words to write.
If you can just take a walk without everyday luggage and cleanse
your senses and erase your thoughts, you have plenty of room
for new inspiration and a have a different aspect of what
life. You can add this to your logbook.There was a person who did
just that. He would walk thru nature and write.
Henry David Thoreau, @Walden Pond.
One of the best authors in the Concord Ma literature territory.
Reading his book, is like walking along with him, his story will
tell you more than one can find if even you sat at the pond every day, like he did. He lived there for awhile, but his writings are
available everywhere today.
I got side tracked!
I was at the dunes and now I am seeing the great blue sea.
Home for many of those who never returned, unforgettable
as we see the names carved in stone. One cannot underestimate
the fathom of the sea’s power. To challenge is taking one’s life
in vain. Do not fool with the sea, respect it as you would for all
nature’s forces.
Once I neared the beach, the blast of salty air filled my sinuses,
lifted up my spirits. So good to be back with the hospitality
of freedom.
The air, the sights and sounds and best of all
where there is a vast view of sky and waves
which encloses us within the realm of beauty.
That said we must preserve it as we would savoring a gift
No time for bare feet and footprints. I must find my
way back, low tide helps, finding some treasures to keep.
Feel as though I’m at the helm and steering my imaginary journey as I sit upon the rocks jetting out into the sea.
No luggage to carry, no fees to pay, a trip of a lifetime.
A trip across the sea. Now you see that nature has more
to offer than that which is just around you.
Be seated at the end of that seawall and take the odyssey.
Copyright ©
Douglas Pederson
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