on_the_express_metra_to_chicago crOwl we just made the 82o metra to chicago, not a minute too soon. it was packed. there wasn't a seat until we walked the length of one car and found two seats that faced forwards. so, we threw the bags down. at least we had somewhere to sit. i looked out the window at life going backwards, at bare trees and buildings, at the faces reflected in the morning glass. one, an indian man wearing a turban, who reminded me of branestue, another man talking on a cellfone, a student with headfones escaping, a businessman reading the wallstreet journal, and touching knees with me, a mother and her twenty-something daughter. at first, i just half watched, half listened to them. i saw the daughter pull string cheese from her purse and offer it to her mom. then, i repositioned my wedding ring, thinking the turquoise might attract attention, and it wasn't five minutes later when the daughter with the natural curls and the perfect cheekbones said she liked it. she said she noticed kathy's ring was similar and figured we were married. i told her i bought it from a native american in santa fe, new mexico. turns out they were going there this summer to visit the grandmother. i told them about the palace of the governers and the natives who spread their wares. just don't take their foto, they'll cover their face, i told them. i talked up the big sky, and the native dancers. they gave me some cut-outs about lincoln park and their midwestern smiles and genuinely thanked me....small planet, i guess. they were beautiful, both of them. i asked them what was up and they said they were heading to the city. seems the daughter was a model from a tiny town in iowa and was going to a shoot with her agency. met them, had ten minutes of engaging conversation and once the train stopped and let us out at union station we would never see them again unless the daughter happens to make it on the cover of a fashion mag. the train trip back was similar. this time it was a student teacher going back home after an interview for a position with the chicago public schools system. it's interesting riding a train, chatting with strangers who become friends in one blink of an eye. and in another blink are gone forever. 040323 ... nomme loved this 040323 ... spoons The model? I know of a girl at my college who is a model and is always leaving to go do her modeling things... She is from a town that is so small and an area that is so under populated she didn't see her first movie in a theater until this year... I wonder if that was her... 040324 what's it to you? who go blather from