Waiting for the train ......

Photo by Marcia Bates
... mostly Bates ...

I've only have to stop at the tracks once this year. and wait for the trains.

Duncan, Ben, David and I were there while two  were pausing, a third was going by, and I felt that the walk to the end of any of them was too long.

Here the Bates kids get a pause before crossing the tracks. There was another pick-up truck on the road behind them, not in the picture, and the yellow machine had been blocking more of the road when they arrived.

"Thiry-five trains a day pass here," one of the railroad crew told Marcia.

I sometimes think all 35 of them go through at night, but that is only how I feel when I am sleeping fitfully.

Most of the time, I hear the trains only during the day and I have to stop either my conversation with someone or my phone call for a minute while the engines pass.

The idea of having trains and a working crew in your back yard  seems idyllic.  Especially if you love trains or are a Thomas-theTrain enthusaist.  But if you have been here on a holiday, you will know what I mean.  The noise is not always that good.

Arta