Once On A Blue Moon!!

Sometimes, you have to see the worst, before your shown the best! Rolling into Milwaukee, on the train out of Chicago, Lawrence, our car attendant, a retired Carpenter, MY BROTHER, points out his “Four Flat” set on the other side of the river, our first smoke break. Lawrence had taken time to mark out all the stops, all the way across, where we’re be smoking, these stops, until this train, always a mystery, places where we all stretched our legs. I liked the way Milwaukee looked, I had never been through here, right away I was making friends, standing, smoking, stretching, waiting for the whistle. You know, as strange as this sounds, I just might spend some time here, later, someday. There was something special about this train, I felt it right away, couldn’t help, but to wonder, if the destination played a part, Portland, probably my favorite town. Its a good sign, Lawrence gives the high sign, all aboard, this train runs on time. This all began in LA, on January 1st, a fresh decade, 2010, I’ll step back into my city and start off fresh. Its symbolic for me, I knew early on, 2009, surviving it, just getting through, would make it good. Unintended consequence, as I count them, twelve fresh faces, right now, can’t say I remember all their names, on the first leg there was Irving and Tony, we found our common ground. Getting on the train, I swore it was Big Steve, I was following down the platform, an old friend from the gym, the 3am crowd at the Old Venice World Gym. This is a big man, he was chitt chatting with an Amtrak Yard Man about bikes as I boarded, seeing his face, I wasn’t quite convinced it wasn’t Big Steve, uncanny, later, speaking, introducing ourselves, the similarities stacked, he was pulling a pillow, out from his grip, I asked if he brought a coffee maker too, I got his attention, wondering if I was kidding him, saying it was a good idea, I let him know I had his back. Irving, the gentleman I rode with, a horn player, heading back to Chicago, getting run off a Cruise Ship, over something about a card game, a game on some off time. Maybe more about, one of those big guy, small guy things! Irving was the big man, not to broke up about the job, he saw it as a blessing, home for Christmas! Tony, the guy without a coffee maker, was heading to Jersey, we didn’t talk much until New Mexico, We were going all the way across, figured on the same trains. Four of us opened the dining car, Irving, Tony, myself, and one other gentleman who traveling to Albuquerque, never got to know this guy to well, can’t remember his name, he was partnered up with Tony, through the Southwest. Some very interesting dynamics going on here, Irving was born in prison, Tony is a US Marshal, If you’ve been keeping up, you know, I’m all over the place, we got to know a bit of each other. Probably a good time for a shout out here, hey Irving, hey Tony, if your keeping up, get back, send a comment, let’s keep this going, get me an email address, I didn’t know it at the time, that you’ve enriched my life. Standing on the platform, smoking my second in Milwaukee, a really beautiful young woman walks up, introduces herself, Shannon, says she is a dancer, asks me my name. Not exactly how the conversation flowed, not exactly in that order, however, I believe it makes a better read! What’s important here is we begin knowing each other, she is really Niiiice, tall, slender, a beautiful smile, as I would discover, just a beautiful soul!!!