The Tunnel

bauer, NJ
TransitThank you for bringing sunshine to my gray and gloomy days.

Patricia Hartbauer
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Shortly after I retired and moved here to Pennsylvania, I went back to New York City to do a play. Since I was commuting to the job it was a long trip everyday. There was a 20 minute walk to the local train station, a trip to Trenton where I boarded New Jersey Transit to New York, then a subway ride to the Upper West Side, then a cross town bus and a 4 block walk to the theatre. Truly a labor of love.

Even though we had opened, I still felt some confusion about the play. I was feeling very distressed and gloomy about it and needed to work on the script. The ride from Trenton to New York gave me ample time to do that.

As the New Jersey train approaches Penn Station in New York it enters a tunnel that takes it under the Hudson River. The Hudson is a big river so the tunnel is quite long. Sometimes the train will slow down or stop in the tunnel as the traffic controllers move other trains in and out of the depot.

On this particular day, just after I boarded the New Jersey train a woman got on with a little girl and sat across the aisle from me. At first I thought of moving my seat. I thought the yammering of the kid would be very annoying and I wouldn't be able to concentrate.

But the girl was very quiet. She spent the whole ride staring out the window and didn't say a word, until we got under the river. The train didn't stop but it slowed down . And after about 5 minutes the girl said "When are we gonna come outta this creepy tunnel?"

That made me grin, and I thought "Oh, how true, how true, little girl. Sometimes life is nothing but a creepy tunnel. And all you can do is have faith that you will eventually come out into the daylight again and things will start to make sense."

Thank you. Miss.

DB - The Vagabond
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Have a sweet day and may angels dip their fingers in your soup.
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DB - The Vagabond
dbdacoba@aol.com