Tapestry
Something I wrote on a recent travel to California on my website:
On a swiveling seat in the observation lounge of the California Zephry, watching the beautiful scenery go by, contemplating the fascination humans have for adventure, the allure of new experiences, the passion for travel, the need for movement, and the yearning for the unknown, I could hear a lady and a gentleman directly behind me facing the other direction earnestly discussing their immense hardships of going through divorce. With a slight touch of humor from the gentleman he wished looking back the proceedings leading to his divorce had been more amicable, and before the lady could finish her statement in support, a woman three seats away joined the conversation.
My head slightly turned, I could see the face of the lady who joined in the conversation. Her voice echoing nothing but lamentation, in no less than a minute or two she had shared with the others and those of us within hearing range her complete frustrations with her husband, mental breakdown, his abuses, deceit, unfaithfulness in the marriage on both ends, and short of explicit details the weight she bears physically and psycho-emotionally of the non success of their marriage; “a twenty five years investment living my life through others” as she puts it whether through her husband or their children. She is on this train to visit a sister she has not seen for twenty five years. She met her husband when she was fourteen years old, starting having babies when she was fifteen and now at the age of forty five she is ready to live “her life”
Unable to bear listening to her pain, as she was starting to reveal explicit details, I left the lounge and when I got to my seat could not help but wonder why? having met another couple at lunch a few hours before who were heading to San Francisco to celebrate their 50th Anniversary. At lunch we talked about the “exoticness” of Africa, yearly camping trips with their kids, track reunions in different parts of the country she enjoys accompanying her husband to (he was an athlete in college). The following morning before breakfast, I sat with the husband who shared more details about their family, their children and his love for woodworking. When the wife joined us, we discussed deforestation in Africa and Brazil, urban population explosion, the situation of Native Americans and a little bit about music and culture. They informed me of how much they are loving the trip especially the wonderful people they are meeting for example a Dutch couple who are traveling the United States for the first time and have been crisscrossing the country.
Not long after, I stroke a brief conversation with a young English couple who are on vacation in the U.S and have six more nights before heading back to their city between Manchester and Liverpool. She loves the Liverpool Football team, he is a Manchester United die hard, we joked on how do they live together? Well they could beat on me since I was a supporter of Manchester City last year, and this year my loyalties are up for grabs.
At a smoke break in Reno-Nevada I caught up with another young man whom I had exchanged pleasantries with since he was carrying a musical instrument. Come to learn he graduated college and went to Europe travelled for a year and is heading home to California. The instrument he was carrying was a Viola he is learning to play since he wanted to have a portable instrument to travel with, and for sure he has some great stories about that instrument: playing for a group of drunk guys in Spain? Is one for the books.
Three nights on the train and on the last stretch of the journey to Palo-Alto, on Caltrain, I sat next to two University lecturers from Europe attending a conference at Standford University. We were on the same train from Grand Junction-CO. She lives in Paris, he lives in Vienna, and they are lovebirds? We interchanged conversations from French to English about things to do in the Bay Area and which cities have great music, where to find live Jazz in San Francisco.
Resting my head to sleep after a warm welcome by my host in Palo Alto, I thought about many times have I traveled on the California Zephyr arguably the most scenic train route in these United States, always guaranteed a spectacular beauty of varied landscapes from East to West, meeting people, catching or witnessing a few stories along the way, of those I’ve met and many more fellow travellers whose final detraining station is the start of another journey, whose life’s stories, be it one of heartache, pain, joy, celebration, or otherwise have affected mine; covering the spectrum of human emotions, I cannot but help to imagine how these individual stories are all woven into the tapestry of the one story of humanity.
