Monday, December 6, 2010

I Hear the Train a-Comin'


Vancouver, Washington Train Station, looking south
toward Portland Oregon

Saturday, in Vancouver (not BC), I had a few minutes to kill before heading over to the Angst Gallery for the Writers Mixer. I hardly ever get downtown during daylight hours and decided to drop by the Vancouver train station where I'd been involved in several emotional dramas (which you can see here). As good fortune would have it, a freight train was ambling south in front of the station. I screeched into a parking space and hopped out of the car, ripping my camera out of its case as I sprinted over some shrubs onto the platform.

I mean, a picture of a train station has to be more fun with a train in the picture, right? With my toes on the edge of the yellow, bumpy strip and the camera balanced in front of my eyes (it doesn't have a view finder but old habits die hard), I pointed it south and snapped a picture. But, wait, I thought, a picture of a caboose in front of the station would be awesome. I aimed the camera north and waited to see if the train had one. I waited and waited as the cars slunk by.
Vancouver Train Station looking north


I don't know what made me turn the camera south again, but a Burlington Northern bore down on me like a...ah...like a freight train (I need to work on my similes-that is just too cliché). I jumped back just in time. And no, I didn't hear it. Well, maybe I heard it, but I thought it was the other train.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe

Scared the beejeebers out of me. Train stations are dangerous. I think I should go back to hanging out at Starbucks.

12 comments:

  1. Glad you jumped back in time. Starbucks sounds nice and safe! Well, except for the person in back of me who seems to think Starbucks is their own personal coffee shop and wants in the front of the line, like RIGHT NOW.

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  2. Katie,

    Whoa, there is danger everywhere.

    Um, were you the sloth with the blacker-than-black hair, wearing the hot pink scarf and flimsy, jeweled, spiked heels, who couldn't decide what to order this morning and thought it was more important to tell the barista about her aunt's dog's surgery? (Just kidding--no dogs were injured in the making of this blog)

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  3. Melanie, I really admire your photographs. I got Tom Ang's "How To Photograph Absolutely Everything..." out of the library -- it's a recipe book for making digi photos -- and your photos look like you follow all the rules. I love the perspective in those train pics. I know you didn't have too much time to think about what you were doing (what with dodging freight trains, and all) so it must just come naturally.

    Since you lived through this adventure I guess you'll move up to laying pennies on the tracks to flatten out when the train goes by...like the little neighborhood children taught my tiny boy to do when I wasn't looking.

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  4. LOL. No I was the one in the running outfit with the beanie and colorful (read, who PAID you to wear that!) leggings. The 100 pound dog tied up outside is my running partner. He prefers Dutch Brothers, but is easily bribable.

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  5. Jewell,

    Considering my photography skills are limited, you are sweet to issue a compliment. My cheap little camera, purchased last year, doesn't even have a view finder, which I find annoying. If you google Melanie Sherman Photography, you'll find an example of good photography. She is talented. Maybe I should check out that book and compete with her. :)

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  6. Katie,

    Oh how I wish I'd seen those leggings. And the dog.

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  7. Well, Melanie, I did Google you and found the photographer lady. I deciphered certain clues that indicated that she was not you but it was not because of the quality of the photographs. If that had been your web site it would have had as many links to this blog as a dog has fleas. Well...I mean not ALL dogs have fleas...I didn't mean that...and certainly not 100 pound athlete dogs...I just mean that I figured out that she was not you even though you take good pictures.

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  8. i am so glad you clarified *not* bc...because i would have been super choked if you came to vancouver bc and did not visit me. you know you have a standing invitation...right? it would be an honour :)

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  9. Jewell,

    I sat in the sun at lunch, soaking up the vitamin D, and thought of you explaining to the 100 lb dog that you meant "some" dogs, but not all dogs.

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  10. Single,

    You are so, so sweet. When I sell my book, may I stay at your house when I do a book signing up there? I'll even bring something for Q.

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  11. Absolutely! What kind of invitation wouldn't include a place to stay? My mom's an awesome cook!!

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  12. Single,

    Tell your mother I admire awesome cooks very much.

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