Exercise

Well, it was a weekend of reading, train riding, bus waiting, ladies who lunch, ladies who dinner, ladies who drink too much wine, Survivor, writing magazines, lap tops and Einsteins bagels. It was an ok weekend where I did some things I really needed to do.

I went to a dinner given by my boss for the ladies in my office. It was fun to watch these middle aged women give partying a go (more middle aged than I am anyhow). They were dancing and drinking and we were all discussing how happy we are with me being there, so that’s a definite plus. I was also so close to getting a free trip to Maine, my boss decided it would be a great idea if she took us to Maine to see her vacation house. It wasn’t until this morning that she realized she couldn’t do it, but only because we would have to leave one girl here alone, and she didn’t want to do that to said girl. So funny.

One of my exercises in a writing mag was to observe one thing for a week. So this week I will be observing:

The Elevated Train-brown line.

This morning was sunny, warmer than most and the Monday morning crowds seemed less hyper than usual, not pushing each other out of the way to get on the trains. That’s usually true of Mondays anyway, no one is as anxious to get to work on Mondays. The sun would dapple in on the quiet train, only a few people talking. A couple who got on together and work friends that ended up on the same train.

They were talking in hushed tones. The trains in Chicago are silent in the morning, which I have always appreciated, unlike the NYC subways which are loud at all times. Not only with talking and homeless people and crazies, but the trains themselves are so loud, you can barely hear yourself think. The red line in Chicago can be loud, but the brown line is quiet, except for the occasional squeak as it turns its hairpin corners.

So the couples themselves were speaking quietly but happily, while the rest of us commuters read our books, but mostly the free Red Eye was the choice for quiet reading. All of us still in our heavy black coats, with an occasional trixie wearing white or pink. Which of course I cannot relate to. A white winter coat, unheard of in the Hixx family. It would be ruined in a day.

The train was crowded, some standing, all seats filled, but not overwhelmingly so, where someone’s backpack is in your nose.

I’ll be curious to see how the train differs from day to day, finally ending with a Friday or a weekend day.

My other assignment is to listen to how people talk to each other, this is turning out to be a fascinating lesson.