Gratitude: Train Spotting

Train passing near the American River Parkway trail

Taking a late afternoon bike ride along the American River, a practice in itself, I heard the whistle of an approaching train. For three months I've passed under these rail road tracks but have never seen a train. I realized today was my lucky day, but I had to move quickly to get to the vantage point for viewing. 

Back in November I was up on the raised train tracks and met a trainspotter who was on his lunch break from Costco located nearby. He timed his breaks so that he could watch trains ramble past as he clocked their travel on his walkie talkie. Hearing the train reminded me of him and the romantic notion of trainspotting. 

Today I am grateful that I was the trainspotter. The sound of the roaring engine and the shaking of the earth put me in an energy frenzy. I would not miss this opportunity to see the train up close. I scrambled up the bank with my bike and was able to hear the roar and experience the rumble. Plus, I was close enough to feel the wind of the train as it passed my spot. With all these feelings I cried tears of gratitude as I waved hello to the engineer and dozens of cars later waved goodbye to the caboose. Each train tells a story and I could imagine the journey of these now-empty cars which at some point were filled with materials. Or, were they on their way to be filled?

Caboose and cars empty on their return journey.

Finally, Etchings Exposed!

Too many etching chemicals results in funky self-portraits. Here I am preparing to enter the aqua tint room.

Tonight was my final etching class at the London Print Studio. I loved the entire five week series and will miss my Wednesday destination. Here are some shots of the studio, our inky table, and the press being turned.

I'm very please with my final work which derived from photo I took in March at Harpers Ferry in Virginia. Here is the original photo and then a black version, reverse image and finally, two colors.

Photos of Harpers Ferry

A little after-the-fact but here are some photos of our visit to Harpers Ferry while in DC earlier this month. Besides the beautiful landscape and interesting history the highlight for me was seeing the trains!

Matt created a video (there he is with his camera) that is uploaded to YouTube if you want to live the experience with us.

Marlene, Matthew and Stephen at the entrance to the Appalaichan Trail.

This last photo is of an old iron Stephen and I found in a pile of ruins near the shore.

More holiday photos to come.