Oasis in the Parking Lot – Day Ninety Three

‘My’ Train – the R5   Photo by L. Weikel

Oasis in the Parking Lot

I was up and out of the house by 6:30 a.m. There was only about two inches of snow, with an icy crust on top, covering everything when I pulled out of the driveway. Sleet ticked heavily on my windshield as I headed toward the train station, my car making fresh slushies as I approached the much better cleared main roads.

It didn’t take long before I realized I was not going to make it to the Doylestown station in time to catch the express train. However, I reasoned that if I just accepted my lot, didn’t try to make it to Doylestown in time, and instead just headed to the main hub on the line, Lansdale, I just might beat the train there and manage to catch it as it passed through.

Yes, it looked promising, especially when I took in just how few cars were on the road. Apparently I was not the only person who’d read the weather forecast from the night before. Of course, I’d ignored it (or at least not let it stop me from making my trek to Philadelphia), while many others obviously had heeded the warnings. Bonus for me.

Forgot My Supply

I must admit, I felt a bit bummed out at the thought of parking at Lansdale. It would be a trek from the whatever parking spot I might find to the station, and I still had to buy my ticket. I remembered my hybrid gait as I loped across that parking lot many a time – half run, quarter walk, quarter shuffle and…Oh! Crap. The quarters. THE QUARTERS.

Only as I was calculating the quickest route to Lansdale did I remember that I would have to feed a massive amount of quarters into an archaic, so-cold-it-felt-like-the-top-layer-of-my-fingertips-would-stick-to-it, gunmetal gray contraption, linking my numbered parking spot with payment of the fee. In quarters.

My heart sank. Until this very moment, I’d forgotten why Karl had always kept the cup holder in my Prius stocked with tons of quarters. It was for the train station parking spots from back in the day when I commuted every day. And I was in a double bind this morning, because not only wasn’t I driving my car (which still contains a decent amount of quarters in the cup holder simply out of habit), but I also had no quarters in my loaner!

I shrugged it off. The best I could hope for was perhaps they’d implemented some sort of debit card system. Whatever, I thought to myself. I’ll deal with it.

An Oasis in a Parking Lot Wasteland

Well, imagine my surprise and delight when I pulled into Lansdale station, headed back toward the semi-vast parking lot I recalled from years ago, and discovered this:

Photo – L. Weikel

Can you hear the chorus of “Alleluias” that echoed through my being when I saw that big, beautiful, brick edifice which had seemingly miraculously risen like an oasis from the wasteland that had previously occupied that area?

Oh my. I was practically giddy.

And the parking was free!

After purchasing my round-trip ticket, I had only to wait about four minutes before my chariot arrived. What a rush of great feelings coursed through me as I made my way into the front car, only to realize that it was a “Quiet Car.” Ooooh! I think these had only recently been implemented when I stopped commuting a dozen years ago. This one was serious about the quiet. You could practically hear a pin drop. The silence was delicious.

More Like a Rain Day – But That’s OK

The sleet pouring from the sky where I lived had shifted to slush by the time I got to Lansdale. And upon arriving in Philadelphia, rain was gushing from the sky. I realized I could have driven in with ease.

But I’m delighted I gave myself the gift of taking ‘my’ train again today. (The reason I put quotation marks around the word my is because I realize I share the R5 with thousands of other riders in the area. But I grew extremely fond of the R5 in my four years of commuting, and I feel quite proprietary. Riding the R5 brought me great joy and serenity in those years.)

I’m heartened by the improvements SEPTA has made (not least being that freaking awesome parking garage in Lansdale!), but also the improved Quiet Ride and the overall condition of the station at Market Street East (the name of which has now changed to Jefferson).

A lot has changed since I was commuting regularly to Philadelphia. I don’t think I would have comprehended as viscerally the fact that it literally has been a dozen years since I worked at the Women’s Law Project had I not experienced first-hand the changes to ‘my’ train – the R5.

So…I’m grateful to have had my version of a Snow Day, and the opportunity it gave me to indulge in and appreciate the unique pleasures of commuting by rail.

I still love my train. And I wholeheartedly support investment in our infrastructure that will support expansion and continued improvements to our rail system (including – especially –  parking garages). (Wink.)

(T-1018)

The Wonderful Sound of Silence;  Photo – L. Weikel