First of all, I write this conscious of the latest hurricane and its devastation to cities and communities. There is so much to say, but not today.
The first leg of the train journey, along the upper Mississippi River in Minnesota, was absolutely beautiful, although somewhat "confusing" -- the quality of the light was pure autumn, but the colors along the river spoke late summer. From my left side seat, I saw lots of birds, including herons, eagles and, of course, geese. When we turned east through Wisconsin, the most notable aspect of the landscape in many places was the quantity of raised huts and hunting blinds in the fields.
Changing trains in Chicago went fine, and I sat on the right this time as we hurtled through the night. There's nothing that signifies "I'm heading into an unknown future" like speeding along the landscape of northern Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania in the pitch dark, only occasionally seeing town, factory, and industrial park lights speed by to be replaced like darkness again. When dawn rose, we were in New York State, but perhaps one of the least appealing stretches of it. Industrial grey, further muted by grey skies and rain. But as we sped eastward through Rochester and Syracuse, and toward Schenectady, the landscape became more familiar and at least somewhat more rural. I can't say that it felt warm and fuzzy, but at least, not negative. I stepped off the train into Schenectady's brand new train station, which replaced the ugly 70's- era one, which had itself replaced the original.
All in all, I'm still just barely acclimating, and have had moments of doubt about whether even taking this trip was right at this time. But late yesterday, I experienced an amazing "small world" coincidence, which tied me both to the Schenectady-Albany-Troy area as well as Lake Champlain, the kind of thing that would never happen in Minnesota. (If nothing else, the train journey reminded me of how far from "home" Duluth has been!) So as I tiptoe forward, I'll just have to see if these deep roots will hold, and whether I find the right venues not only for living, but also for speaking about the Goddess. It's lot to expect, but I'm hopeful.
