History, not a mystery

When my parents returned to Butler in the early 1970s I discovered mind-numbing sameness. Almost everyone I met was born in Butler and their father worked at one of two places: Pullman or Armco. (Ok, *some* parents worked at other places. But 9 out of 10 worked at one or the other of these two places.)  I was secretly happy that my father had worked at Pullman for a short time but he hated it.

I was only 11 when we moved to Butler. By that time I had lived on three continents, in four countries, and in three states. I had a Louisiana accent that I quickly lost by copying others; a skill I retain to this day. To this day I am glad my parents chose to take their children everywhere they possibly could. When Dad got orders Mom was as eager as he was to see this new place. I am my father's daughter, and my mother's daughter. My love of travel is inborn.

(I found this picture on the internet. I'm guessing Armco made ashtrays. And I had an uncle who worked at Armco for many years until he could retire to Florida where he and my aunt live till this day.)

Theaterfest

I'm in Houston for Theatrefest 2009! This is 3-4 days of plays, classes and discussions all based on educational theatre. Our special guest for today was Angela Lansbury! What a great lady!

They showed a dvd of her characters over the years and she spoke about her life. Her big lesson for the students was 'observe others.'

I am staying in the Hyatt Regency (at quite a high -discount- rate.) This is where the event is being held.

Of course, I hope this is my last Theatrefest because I will be in Paris by the next school year.

It is nice to be out of TinyTown!

trains

All my life I have lived near transportation: airports, highways and train tracks. Because I was born on an air force base on the day before King Mohammed V of Morocco died, my father had to find alternate transportation for the trip back to our home base. Mom and I arrived on the same small airplane that brought the mail.

So travel is in my dna. And this Christmas I chose to ride Amtrak from Texas to Pennsylvania. This was a two train trip. Train one was the Texas Eagle; I rode from Temple, Texas to Chicago, Illinois. Because of cold weather the trip took 30 hours. The temperature was 70 when I left Temple and about 8 when I arrived in Chicago. After a two hour delay, train two- the Capitol Limited, left. It arrived about 11 hours later.

As much as I like travel, this was more than a wee bit too long.

I brought a book, WICKED, and my laptop with dvds. This kept me occupied for a while. Most of the people on the train are friendly and respectful. And I have nothing but praise for the staff on the train. They are kind, efficient, and professional.

I recommend train travel IF you are taking a short trip. Sitting in the coach seats becomes a test for one's behind. One does have MUCH more leg room on a train as opposed to an airplane. One gentleman, who was 6ft 3, said he had plenty of legroom.

And the dinning car is worth a visit. The Texas Eagle has 'Tex-Mex' food and I had a very good salmon dinner.

However, what I saved by purchasing train over plane travel, I spent on meals. ;-)