This post was from a similar trip last fall, just realized I never finished it.

Well, another one of my life goals is coming true at this very moment. Since they introduced the Acela trains in the 1990s I've been dreaming of riding on one. I'm doing that right now. Am I really in the USA, riding a relatively high-speed passenger train with comfortable seats and a smooth ride? Yep. And it is all electric so it doesn't send up clouds of diesel smoke like the older trains do.

Four hours from Boston to New York. Yeh!

WiFi on Amtrak is totally inadequate for the number of folks who come on the train with connecting devices. This was true on all the trains I rode last year on the east coast and is still true. It's weird how used to connectivity I am now, and how unsure of how to be productive without it.

Miles of abandoned industrial structures line the tracks through Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Coming into Philadelphia now and lots of people getting on here. Even more wifi users I suspect!

Who Are You?
excerpt from "Still The Mind" by Alan Watts

Consciousness does not illumine the lamp from which it shines, just as a flashlight doesn't shine on the battery that powers it. When you make a decision, does that come from somewhere other than you? No, it comes from the depths of you, of which you are not really aware. You encompass far more than anything you know about in a conscious way.

Psalm 139
The Inescapable God

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.


Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night’,
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.


For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed.
How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
I come to the end—I am still with you.



Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Take me to the river..

the banks of the river Charles.. that's where you'll find me.

This is the view from the window of my room at the SSJE monastery guesthouse. This is such a solid place and very peaceful. I'm looking forward to the next few days.

Google+

Trying out the newest social net Google+. Seems pretty clean and simple so far. No IOS app yet for the phone but it works OK on the computer. Perhaps this will help bring things together for me in a new way.

..J

Wind Power

The Zen of Train Travel

So nothing, absolutely nothing, is going as I expected on this trip, yet by staying open to the moment I've had a very significant experience. I hope to write about it soon. Meanwhile this meditation by Thomas Merton seems appropriate..

My Lord God

I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself,

and the fact that I think I am following

your will does not mean

that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that my desire to please you

does in fact please you.

And I hope that I have that desire

in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything

apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this

you will lead me by the right road

though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always

though I may seem to be lost

and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear,

for you are ever with me,

and you will never leave me

to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

More on Amtrak service interuption..

Amtrak temporarily suspends service at Minot, other N.D. cities
June 22, 2011
By ELOISE OGDEN - Regional Editor (eogden@minotdailynews.com) , Minot Daily News
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Amtrak's "Empire Builder" service is temporarily being suspended between St. Paul, Minn., and Havre, Mont., with no alternate transportation available between those points until further notice, Amtrak officials said.

The disruption of service will affect Minot and other Amtrak stops in North Dakota.

The temporary suspension of service was effective in both directions with the originations of the "Empire Builder" trains Tuesday.

The suspension is being done because of the flooding in and around Minot. Amtrak uses Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks.

"BNSF Railway's tracks are in service in Minot and we're working to remain in service as long as possible, but we are also planning for when the water will overtake the rail and we'll be out of service. This includes moving crew changes and removing equipment that could get damaged, and developing plans for rerouting traffic where possible," said Amy McBeth, a spokeswoman for BNSF from St. Paul.

"We are also providing emergency relief for crews so that employees who live in Minot get back to town so they can manage their own flood preparations," McBeth said.

She said any outages are posted on the weather updates section found on the BNSF home page at (www.bnsf.com).

For passengers traveling on Amtrak from Seattle and Portland, a combination of trains and chartered motor coaches will provide service to Spokane, Wash., with the "Empire Builder" trains continuing east into Idaho and serving all Montana stops for Glacier National Park (including Whitefish, East and West Glacier and Essex), continuing east to terminate at Havre each afternoon. The trains will originate there to operate back west to Seattle/Portland.

For those passengers traveling west from Chicago, the "Empire Builder" trains will serve all their Wisconsin stops (including Wisconsin Dells), continuing west to terminate at St. Paul each evening. Each morning, the trains will originate there to operate back east to Chicago.

For more information passengers should call 800-USA-RAIL or visit Amtrak.com.

© Copyright 2011 Minot Daily News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Floods are everywhere!

The final 3rd of my trip is off. Tomorrow I get on a train back to California instead of West to Montana, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can make it all the way to Chicago without getting stuck somewhere. My problem is nothing compared to people living in affected areas, but I'm bummed out nonetheless. Wish me luck.

xo Joe