stephen h

not a whole lot to report this evening…

the extra-dry air circulated in the cars here in the train make my skin dry out, and also have made my nose bloody. i’ve got lotion for the skin(almost made a silence of the lambs joke here, you can insert your own) but no remedy for the nose. drinking lots of hot tea(yogi’s tahitian vanilla hazelnut!) and water hasn’t helped.

i’m in north dakota now, and in approximately 6 more hours i’ll be in minnesota, my new home state. (more…)

Tags: north dakota, stephen h, Thoughts, Writings

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the afternoon has been pleasant. the plains of montana leave nothing to report, just more of us snaking our way across the flatlands on rails…

i got a short nap in earlier, pretty much exactly one hour to the minute, waking up to see us about to pull into another station. we’ve been through one or two since then, going past havre and now malta. out here there really isn’t much to photograph or report on at all except the rare landmark like “fifteen mile creek,” a sign and even a creek i would’ve missed if blinking.

the land is covered in brown and yellow grass, with a rare bush or tree breaking ground, defying the crust only enough to still appear mostly dead, like a hand reaching out for its last hope for survival. despite all the clouds overhead, i don’t see any rain happening, so things look like they’ll remain as is.

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Tags: montana, stephen h, Thoughts, train, Writings

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first night on the train to minnesota…

i became overwhelmed with emotion soon after giving my last hugs and goodbyes to the small group of my closest friends who came to see me off at the train station. they had all brought gifts of fresh-baked goods, including some amazing chocolate chip cookies and a couple loaves of my favorite sourdough bread. it wasn’t until i boarded the train and sat down that the tears came, and so it goes…

leaving portland there were some beautiful sights. the fall leaves along the railways, my last sighting of the st. johns bridge(looking regal as always in the sunset), it made me instantly think of ways to make it back to portland to visit in the fall…

not too long into the trip i met hazel, an elderly woman who was sitting in the seat in front of mine. she was about 75 if she was a day, but still had a very bright and open soul. we got to talking about where we coming from(she couldn’t remember the name of the town she boarded the train at, which i thought was adorable), and i gave her bits of my story. she was headed up to spokane to visit a granddaughter who was attending school there, apparently training to become a pilot, following in the footsteps of her mother or aunt(i can’t remember which).

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Tags: montana, stephen h, Thoughts, travel, Writings