On Tuesday December 15, 2015, I took Trax to work. Trax is the commuter train that runs
throughout Salt Lake County. I live some 20 miles from my office and I
usually drive to work. However, Monday
December 14th it snowed in Salt Lake. I mean it really snowed. It snowed throughout the night and it snowed
all day. I must have had 15 inches or
snow on my yard when I got home from work Monday evening. Being the smart fellow that I am, I hired
some guys to shovel my sidewalks and driveway.
When I left for work Monday morning, I thought about taking
Trax but I drove to work. It was a
difficult and treacherous commute. It
took me at least twice the amount of time as it normally takes. It was a prime example of white knuckle
driving. Unable to stop, I slid through
a couple of intersections on the slick roads covered with ice and deep snow. Luckily, I left for work at 5:30 am and there
were not many cars on the road. I was
relieved to get to work in one piece and without a crash.
Monday night the forecast was for more snow on Tuesday. I made the decision before bed that I would
take Trax to work on Tuesday.
Our house is about a three minute drive from the Trax end of
the line station in Draper, Utah.
Tuesday morning I was at the Trax station by 5:00. It was snowing hard when I walked from my car
to the train platform. Although I was
bundled in a long coat, a scarf, gloves and a fedora, it was cold, snowy and
dark. I was glad when the trained
arrived so I could board and get out of the snow. I took the second or third
train of the morning. There only 4 or 5
of us on the train when it left the Draper station.
It was dark and snowy throughout our journey to downtown
Salt Lake. As we pulled into each
station. More passengers, covered in snow and looking cold, boarded the
train. Every new passenger seemed relieved
to get out of the snow and onto the train. No one seemed to have a smile on
their face, only a look of relief to be out of the weather.
I sat alone, since
the train is not all that crowded at the time of morning. As I tried to see out the window looking for
recognizable landmarks in the dark, I began to wonder why I did not take the
train the day before. I concluded it was
a dumb decision to drive. The snow on my black fedora started to melt as we
rumbled down the tracks to the City and I started to warm up.
After about 45 minutes, the train
stopped at the downtown Gallivan station.
This is a stop on Main Street between 200 and 300 South, adjacent to
Salt Lake’s Gallivan Plaza, a downtown plaza with an outdoor ice skating rink
and concert stage.
As I got off the train I stood
for a moment to look around. It was
beautiful. Snow was falling; big white flakes from a dark sky. The snow was
piled up everywhere. Everything was covered in a pristine blanket of
white. The only sound was the sound of
the train moving off to the next stop.
The street lights and street decorations were lit up. I crossed to the east side of Main Street and
passed by KUTV, a local TV station and through the ground floor window of the
news room I could see Ron, Mary and Debbie from behind as they were brightly
lit up doing the early morning news and weather. After I passed the TV news window I could see
the Christmas lights of the Gallivan Center. Festive holiday lights in contrast
to the white snow.
As I walked through the block to
my law office I was filled, for the first time this season, with the excitement
of Christmas. I thought about the Lovely
Sharon, who was no doubt asleep in a warm bed in Palm Desert, California. I
thought about Son Alex and my mother. I
thought about my father and the fact that this was the first time in my life
that I would not see him or talk to him during the Christmas holidays. I
thought about how much I missed him since his death in the autumn.
I felt like singing, Silent Night
or O Holy Night or at least say something out loud to acknowledge my new found
Christmas Joy and Christmas Spirit but I kept quiet and continued on to my
office.
It was a good day at work, normal
stuff- phone conferences with clients, reviewing and writing contracts, and
lunch with some financial planners. But
during the day I kept looking out of my office window at the snowy city
below. From time to time the clouds would
move and I could see the Wasatch Mountains looking beautiful in their
whiteness.
After work, I took the train back
home. It was crowded and people were
talking or reading or listening to something on their head phones. I pulled out my cell phone and looked through
pictures of the grandkids and the Lovely Sharon. I was still thinking about
Christmas.
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