Memories Captured May: Once Upon A Train

Posted on by February 25, 2020

 

Once more this month, I’m linking up with Galit Breen of These Little Waves and Alison of Mama Wants This for their monthly Memories Captured Link-up. I think my favorite thing about this meme is the way it invites me to explore an entirely different style of writing. It’s WAY outside my comfort zone, and I’m always challenged to truly capture an authentic memory in my own voice.

About jesterqueen:
Jessie Powell is the Jester Queen. She likes to tell you about her dog, her kids, her fiction, and her blog, but not necessarily in that order.

Comments

Memories Captured May: Once Upon A Train — 74 Comments

    • Thanks, Greta! It’s not uncommon for spectrum kids to love trains, but in our family, it’s a good thing they did, or they would be REALLY bored on some of these family trips!!

    • Thanks, Galit! Sometimes, having that one thing in common is about all we can all say about each other at the end of a stressful day. And for reasons I don’t understand, it has always been enough. (So far.)

  3. What a beautiful family. And that you have passed on to them your passions is priceless.

    • It’s a fun understanding to develop. My kids are, like my husband and I, pretty intense people. And they never do things by halves. Sam is still too young by about a year for a couple of the longer train trips we’re planning on, but soon we will introduce him to more than just the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway and Heart of Dixie Railway!

    • This is one of the best memes going, Alison! Thanks for dropping by!

    • I think that’s what stretches me the most about this meme. When it works, it’s so fun! Glad you liked it.

  7. Oh, lovely family, and TRAINS! Felix may jump ship and come live with you all.
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    • He’s more than welcome. He just has to accept that he’ll have the world’s most obnoxious younger brother in Sam.

    • Thanks Ado! She’s about to get glasses this summer. She reminds me of me in that she is excited about the prospect rather than being dismayed. Anyway, with glasses, she’ll look even more like me!

  9. Trains! I have only been on one train since we moved to Canada, we took a ride on the old Kettle Valley Railway. Old steam train, that was fun.
    Now in Germany we used to take the train all the time, from old choo-choo train to superfast bullet train. It’s in our blood as well!
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    • We all yearn to go ride Eurorail. I first heard of Eurpoasses when I was a teen, and I’ve wanted to own one ever since.

    • There’s just something magical about that rhythm of motion. When we were walking up to the train, the engine was chopping a rapid beat that went tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-chhh that the kids were dancing to.

    • I think I could spend my life in taking pictures of trains rounding bends. By the time we are 80, I hope to have amassed enough to paper a room. Maybe a house.

    • Thanks Missy! Trains are so magical. I wish I could write about them all the time. Now THAT would be a cool gig.

    • I have a feeling living in NYC where you kind of HAVE to take a train everywhere eliminates some of the appeal. But this is something I’ve had for most of my life. I remember a time – I was maybe 8 – when my sister got her first train set. It was a Lionel, and I had no use for it. I did NOT get it.

      And then I did. And I’m so glad I did!

  14. You’re beautiful family just made me smile again. I love your photos and the sweet words you used to fill out the story they tell.

    • Thanks Re! We are all so alike that sometimes we do nothing but disagree. It’s nice to have this to come back to!

    • Thanks! I love this one in particular because it actually GOES somewhere. A lot of these scenic railways drive out an hour into the middle of nowhere and then just turn around and go back. This one goes between Blue Ridge and McCraysville.

  16. The way you’ve written this, it doesn’t feel like it’s outside of your comfort zone at all. I love the thought of taking a train trip with our children, but it’s so crazy expensive up here in Canada that taking a plane is cheaper! I know it would be an amazing experience though.

    • Yay! Then I’ve done my job right. It actually took me all day Monday to come up with the right words and then find the right pictures to go with them. So glad that the love is what shines through in the end. These scenic railways are all volunteer driven, and that cuts down on the costs. Most states have one or two. But they don’t amount to an efficient transportation line. If we wanted to go somewhere on Amtrak (except on the East Coast) it would be more than a plane and SO VERY slow.

  17. I loved everything about this post: pictures, writing, and your point of view. It does not seem to be out of your comfort zone at all. In fact, it inspired me to link a post to #MemoriesCaptured. Really enjoyed this one!
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    • Yay! I’m so glad you joined up with Galit and Memories captured! She is absolutely one of my muses. And I write poetry so rarely that when I do, I’m left feeling terrified and breathless.

  19. I love that you tell the whole fantastic memory in the series of pictures, you take it outside the box..that’s the magical thing about being outside the comfort zone – amazing things really happen..
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    • You’re absolutely right about the outside of the comfort zone being a place of creativity. (And I have no idea how I am only just now responding to this! My comments ate a bunch of people and they fell into spamhell, and I think thirty or forty have cropped up this week out of noplace!)

  20. Jessie, you have a beautiful family! And these photos are excellent and fun to look at! My husband and I have always wanted to take a train ride. What a great memory to make with your loved ones.
    Your kids are beautiful!
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  21. How darling! The photo story says it all. Good for you going for it and trying new things- it turned out well! Happy Sits Day!

    • I’m DYING to ride commuter trains and the subways in New York. I can imagine NOTHING more fun. I’m sure it would get old after awhile, but I’m SO easily amused that it would be a long while!

    • Thanks Kim! Trains often appeal to kids on the spectrum, so that has surely contributed to it, but I KNOW that Scott’s and my love of all things rail has played a huge part, too.

    • Trains are so awesome. In Alabama, they are researching putting light rail from Birmingham to Montgomery. Do you have any idea how much I WANT that to happen???

    • It was outside my comfort zone for sure, but it worked out so well. Galit and Alison challenge me with the memories captured linkies. And I LOVE them for it.

  31. Love this, Jessie! You said it took you our of your comfort zone. I couldn’t tell. I love the photographs of you and your beautiful family. I have a bit of a “thing” for trains too. They’re so… Americana to me, somehow.

    At any rate, thank you for this thought provoking blog entry (for me, anyway). And may your SITS Day be filled with beautiful wonderment and goo-gobs of love!
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    • And I love the way they rumble under me and carry me without me touching the controls, and the whole idea of rails. Yes. I’m a little crazed. Thanks for visiting on my SITS day!

  36. Its great to step outside of your comfort zone, you never know what new heights it’ll bring you to! This is quite a story you’ve laid out and what a great thing to share and pass done a passion of something you and your husband share with your kids. Sounds like fun taking the train. I take the train into NYC and its not bad on the newer trains 🙂

    Happy SITS day!
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