Today I went to my favorite place in Auburn and drank my favorite tea there with my favorite bathroommate.
Then I went my favorite way home, and stopped at my favorite railroad crossing.
It's my favorite railroad crossing because there are no guard rails. When a train comes, the lights just flash. That's it. There is nothing keeping me from staying there on the tracks. The freedom, the rush, the thrill of knowing that I could at any moment be destroyed by a train is irresistible. So, I drive that way, and usually linger on the tracks as they go off into nothingness looking down as far as my eyes allow me to see.
It looks a lot like this. This picture was taken my freshman year.
Tonight I stopped on the tracks like I always do, my door exactly centered on the peak of the tracks, my car perpendicular to any invisible train that might come my way, and then it happened.
I saw lights. Only, these lights weren't passing like they usually are when they belong to the cars that cross the tracks. They were bright, and getting brighter. Then the red warning lights began to flash and the whistle sounded as I jack-rabbited off the tracks and away from the train that was pummeling toward me.
I have gone this favorite way for many years and alway dreamed about that moment happening. It was a lot more scary that I thought it would be. Still, you should know that I played it safe, had terrible depth perception, and the train was really at least 7 seconds from hitting me, by any stretch of the imagination, so I'm not that daring, but, boy was it awesome!
1 comment:
That's a really good picture!! I was actually riding one time with a friend to the movies I think it was. Her dad was driving and he sped through under the guard rails and one track as they were going down. It was terrifying.
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