A field of fire

Oct. 9, 2008

WHERE I AM: On Lakeshore Limited train no. 48 coming into Buffalo, New York. I’m across the way from two ladies…one is from California, the other from Colorado.
WHAT I DID TODAY: Rode the rails. Woke up to the sunrise in Erie, Pennsylvania. It was a peachy pink that lit up the stalks of corn and the tree farms just beginning to burst red, orange, yellow. Had breakfast with a volcano expert named Bob Brown. We talked all about Yellowstone and how it’s due to blow any day now.
WHAT I’M DRINKING: Amtrak coffee. My second cup even though it cost a whopping $1.75. My Dad said I shouldn’t be afraid to splurge on the things that will make my day special…I think this counts.
WHERE I’M GOING TOMORROW: I’ll be in Boston, exploring the harbor and Harvard campus, drinking coffee, writing, observing the world.

The sun is just up.
I haven’t watched the sun rise in a long time. That is my loss.
This morning it lights up a pine tree farm. The field looks like a zebra -- rows of shadow, rows of squatty treetops lit by the new sun, shadow, sun, shadow, sun. The next farm is deciduous trees. All red and orange, it looks like a field of fire.