03/06/01 - My horoscope today: Life may seem like a great train ride. You have your own little compartment on the train that you are striving to keep comfortable and neat. The company you keep is important, as is your proximity to the food car. It's a thing of mine, reading my horoscope. Trains are a thing of mine too. Trains have had a way of chugging through my life. In my younger days there were several three day ventures - San Francisco to Houston on the Sante Fe, just my Mom and me. I loved the sound of the train at night, it worked just like a lullabye for me. It was never boring even though we sat in our seats morning, noon and night. I always wondered why we didn't get a compartment; money wasn't the issue. We rode the train because my mother had a fear of flying. I enjoyed the scenery and mealtimes. There was a Dining Car that seemed very fancy with it's crisp white table cloths, silver coffee pots, and Black Porters  with their crisp white uniforms. The Club Car was my pick for lunch though. It was less formal and the hamburgers were hot and greasy and served in little plastic baskets with a mound of plump fries. Later in the afternoon my Mom and I would make an appearance in the Lounge Car. There the seats were attached to the floor and they swiveled. The tiny round tables were just big enough to hold a drink or two. And ... There was open space, you could walk around, get a little exercise. We had to change trains somewhere in Arizona, Tucson I think,  which was a highlight of the trip. There would be Indian women squatting on the ground on blankets set up with native trinkets for sale. We'd leisurely shop and then have lunch in a little barbecue place that had sawdust on the floor and bull horns on the walls. Now I am wondering if maybe my mother's fear of flying wasn't just an excuse. She must have enjoyed this adventure as much as I did. I did have a train compartment experience, later on while traveling in Europe. It was the overnight rail from Lucerne to Amsterdam. I was traveling alone and was very tired. It was my last night in Europe and I was ready to go home, anxious even. I remember the Porter insisting on making up the top bunk for me even though I wanted to sleep on the bottom. Once the bunk is made it's not easy to look out the windows. I slept a wonderfully sound sleep that night. I was very rudely awakened at 6 a.m. by the Porter wanting to put the top bunk away and I can remember trying to argue with him about that ... I lost. It wasn't long before I realized why he was so insistent. Those last few hours on the train contained some most remarkable and memorable scenery. A few years later I would accompany my 1st husband on his 1st rain ride ... Amtrak's Starlight, Oakland to Portland. This was meant to be more of a scenic excursion than a means of transportation. It too was an overnight trip. The Dining Car was similar to the ones of my youth, which pleased me. My ex had a hard time sleeping on the train so I remember spending most of the night in the Lounge Car chatting with other non-sleepers. The show started at dawn with the most spectacular scenery, breathtaking. I have also experienced train travel as a mode of transportation. I traveled almost daily for a year on the Southern Pacific commuter, up and down the San Francisco peninsula. Going to the City I would usually catch a train that was very modern, double decker, well lit and roomy. On the way home I preferred a more romantic older train with dim lighting and lots of wood, very atmospheric. For the last several years my experiences have been hi-tech ... BART, Bay Area Rapid Transit. I consider BART a train, not much scenery though. It's definitely a mode of transportation. But, there is still a train-like feel to it and there are my fellow passengers. It's very enjoyable to sit back and people watch, that's my scenery now. Though I don't really put any merit into my daily horoscope reading, I do tend to get a bit of entertainment, enjoyment out of it. There are readings like today's that inspire me and give me things to ponder.  Maybe someday I will just hop a train and head off to who knows where ... I'll definitly have to check my horoscope first !