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Nighthawks—1942 painting by Edward Hopper

The last time I took the Empire Builder east toward Chicago I was reminded of how big and wide  our beautiful country is, and when I arrived in Chicago, surprisingly on time, I found myself only a few blocks from The Art Institute and a special exhibit on Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper. The latter captured my attention, especially in the painting shown above. Hopper was particularly interested in people or things seen through windows, say from passing trains, or people together yet apparently alone, e.g. his iconic Nighthawks, above, with the people sitting in a late night diner and the viewer outside the plate glass window.

The Empire Builder often goes through the backyards of towns I would never otherwise see. I am always curious about what people are doing in their backyards, hard to make out from an Interstate highway. Seeing houses pass by quickly sets my brain to thinking: they have their lives and I have mine, and it seems unlikely that they will ever intersect with each other except for the fleeting visual contact as we pass by. This sometimes sets in motion the formation of stories, both mine and theirs. I like to keep my drapes open on the train even at night just in case there is another Hopper out there, looking for material, somewhere in the small towns we pass through, or maybe even on the train.

It is hard to get lost on a train. Having a guide is a very freeing experience. And it is nice to turn over the driving to someone else. Wasn’t it Greyhound that used the slogan “Go Greyhound and leave the driving to us.” Yes, it was: aren’t Wikipedia and, of course, Google, superb inventions? I just plugged “Greyhound slogan” into Google and there it was. By the way, whatever happened to Greyhound? I never see their ads on the TV or hear them on the radio. I see an occasional bus on the interstate with either a Seattle or Minneapolis sign, depending on which direction it is going.

And then secondly, It gives you a chance to travel slowly enough that you can think about what you are writing or reading. Which reminds me I am finding William Maxwell—Time Will Darken It—one of our lesser known novelists at least to me, very delightful. I like his style. If not reading, then I can just sit and think, or sometimes just sit.

Thirdly, you often meet interesting people in the dining car, e.g. a couple from Chicago who take the train from Chicago to Seattle several times a year to visit their children. I mentioned that I was born in Harvey, IL and lived there ’til I was 4 years old. This got a response from Rosalie that she had lived in the same city from age 3 to 10. And then we started in a general free-for-all about memory and its peculiarities. It was an enjoyable dinner, the food was fairly good as was the wine, and, of course, the Haagen Daz ice cream was worth any price.

Unfortunately, one has to drive about 3 hours from Billings to Malta to catch the Empire Builder. It’s a little scary to stand on the platform alone, wondering if that gigantic beast bearing down on you will really stop for a single passenger. Nobody bothers your car while you are away though it gets fairly dusty. If you arrive early, say noon, you can check out the local dinosaur finds.