Setting the Christmas mood...

One day this week we decided to go shopping at the Easton Mall.  They really have it decorated nicely and, with the touch of snow and the chilly temps, it was easy to get into the spirit.  I think shopping in the afternoon is much less hectic and also helps to keep people somewhat calm.

One particular display that they dress up for the holidays is the train which pretty much runs year-round.  Here are some pictures of it during the day.  I think it would have been better if these were taken at night, but then again there would have been many, many more people around and I may not have been able to get these shots.

Like I said, these would have been better at night. But you know what, there is just something about a train -- a train set or the real thing.  And hearing the low, haunting wail of it's whistle at night, in the distance, when you are half awake and half asleep, stirs some long suppressed memories of old adventures -- some made and some abandoned.

“My heart is warm with the friends I make,
And better friends I'll not be knowing,
Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take,
No matter where it's going.”


(Edna St. Vincent Millay, "The Selected Poetry")


Hooah