Track! What Track?

Train Tracks 1977

Josh adored trains. We lived close to some railroad tracks and a train chugged past every night at 5 pm, and again at midnight. His nose was smashed against the window pane at the first whistle each evening. Often, when we'd return late after a movie, we'd see two blue eyes sparkling between his white bedroom curtains, waiting for the train.

"Bump to the train tracks!" he'd beg whenever we were in the car. Dee drove across and always backed over them too, so we could get a double dose of the delight provided by the tires jostling over the rails. Saturdays we drove around in search of lights flashing at a train crossing, hoping to count the cars between the engine and the caboose.

I remember one day as we were driving along Dee and I were discussing getting a puppy. I said, "When we train it, we could..." Three-year-old Josh interrupted with an excited "Train! What train?" I laughed and remarked, "Josh, you have a one-track mind!" Whereupon he squealed, "Track! What track?"

I've got a one-track mind, too. We're planning a trip to Austria right now, and we'll be riding a few trains. I'm so excited! It's hard to concentrate on anything else. The maps are out, the books are open, the new shoes are broken in...we don't leave for two weeks, but I'm already in training, hoisting my suitcase over my head ten times a day. It's fun to know there's a switch up ahead, and we'll be going in a new direction for a while.

What track are you on right now?

(Thanks to Annie for featuring me today on Letters to a Parent.)