INTERESTING TIMES

There’s a big difference between riding a coal train through Kansas and Nebraska and trying to write. Writing is a suspension of life. I believe that so-called writer’s block is something that any writer is going to experience every day, but in a minor way. You break through some kind of membrane, and then you go into another world.
--McPhee

Headed north by train very shortly. I love traveling by train. I also like traveling on holidays. There aren't many people out, and those who are out have their silliness and joy on display.

I took the amtrak from Portland to Seattle and back again. On the way there a young couple traded their business class seat to me, so they could sit together. I liked business class. There was a nice little heater right by my chair, and the seat was big enough to sit crosslegged in. On the way back, I took my comp ticket to the ticket counter to ask if I could upgrade it to business class. The lady checked and checked in the computer, and the moment she realized that my ticket was a comp, she scoffed, and said "No! This is a free ticket!" as if it was totally outrageous that I thought I might get away with riding in business class. I am after all just skiing riffraff, with a green gregory pack on my back and an old north face jacket. I thanked her for her help and went away to contemplate the class divide. I came out below it that time.
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