Everybody Is Working for the Weekend

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Weekend getaways are great during the summer, but they have one side effect on Friday evenings and Monday mornings - lots of extra bags that get pushed and packed into the train competing for space.  Did you ever wonder what's in all those bags?  I think I've provided a few clues and good guesses in the illustration above.

Wouldn't this be nice?  A few drinks, the sunglasses, flip flops, .  Now, the only thing you have to figure out is to get that bathing suit to somehow work with the casual Fridays outfit without your boss knowing.  The guy on right obviously hasn't figured this out yet.

Care For A Seat?

The commuting crowd traded train chairs for beach chairs and blankets for the 4th of July.  And, being super efficient, (even on a holiday weekend)  everyone put their chairs to good use - and used them to save a seat for the fireworks display.  So if you happened to be driving through Binney Park in Old Greenwich on the day of the fireworks, this is what you saw.  A sea of technocolor plastic fold out chairs and blankets reserving the best places for viewing the fireworks.  Hope you found your spot when you came back at dusk!

Summer Weekend

I had a break from being on the train this past weekend and was in Newport, RI.  Instead of having a hot sticky breeze of a passing train try to cool me off, there was a cool salty breeze off the North Atlantic as I sat on a bench and did this watercolor sketch of The Breakers.  Although considered a "cottage" in its heyday by the Vanderbilt family, it's really a just a huge stone house built with an eye toward European palaces and Italian Renaissance palazzo style.

Father's Day and More

Happy belated Father's Day to all the Dads out there.  I enjoyed sitting next to Olivia and her Dad a few weeks ago on their way home.

Run out of gift ideas for that birthday coming up?  I've designed the perfect solution: the Commuter's Cuckoo Clock!  Complete with all these accessories and a conductor that pops out and announces the time!

The title track of singer-songwriter Nick Drake's album, Pink Moon is a perfect mellow song to listen to on the train ride home after a stressful day.  But on Wednesday night I was lucky enough to see the song come to life looking southeast down the Harlem River at the rising full moon.  As it happened the ingredients of just enough haze, a little smog, and humidity from earlier rain showers gave the rising moon a pinkish cast as it ascended into the night.  Walking home from the train station, the pink cast had been replaced by a blue reflective glow that bounced off all the trees and houses giving the neighborhood a very surreal vibe.

The Commuting Landscape

It's not just humans who commute on the train, it's all the "stuff" that comes along for a ride too. 

The tunnels and passages are heating up down in the labyrinth of Grand Central - just wait till August!

That's right, one evening last week I was sure I had entered a televised gameshow as I listened to the public address system on the train.  The conductor announced each stop with such gusto and enthusiasm I was sure if I closed my eyes I would awake to find that the train had arrived on the set of the Price Is Right.  But to my great disappointment my train car did not transform into a great assemblage of lights and cameras; I found myself walking off the platform straining to hear the echoes of  the great announcer as the train slipped away into the night.

Memorial Day Weekend Quiz

First, a big thank-you to all those who served our country; their service has helped all of us lead a better life today.  Second, speaking of a "better life," was that the case during your Memorial Day Weekend?  As the sketch above may suggest, did you lead the "good life" over this past weekend?

Did you:
A. Finally make the par-3 hole without holding up the party behind you?
B. Decided to work on your tan so you didn't become a honorary member of the "Pasty White Club?"
C. Get handed a list by your spouse and told not to sit down until after you BBQ'd dinner.

Happy Summer! (Now if only those air conditioners on the trains would work)

It's A Dog Eat Dog World

Well, that may be true Monday through Friday.  But on a Friday evening train,  this puppy dog named Brisco may beg to differ.  He sat himself right down next to his owner and fell asleep for just long enough for me to do this sketch.  Then he woke up and wanted off the train - don't we all by Friday evening?!

Choose Your Train Car Carefully

Has this ever happened to you?  You're dead tired, long day, and all you can think of is having a nice quiet train ride home to collect your thoughts? And then you get to Grand Central and realize that looking at the crowd, hearing the tired baby crying, and seeing everyone grab something to eat on the train that it isn't going to quite work out the way you want?  As a officer advised as I was walkind down the ramp to the platform one evening, "Choose your traincar carefully," and we both erupted into laughter.

Go dig out those summertime loafers and colorful preppy ties! 

Two weeks until the unoffical start of summer - Memorial Day Weekend!

(Look back at my blog posts from February and compare what you were wearing back then)

A Different Commute

I had to dig into some of my old sketchbooks to find a post this week, all my current ones are still in progress.  This is a view from an Amtrak train along the Eastern Connecticut shoreline in early spring when everything is still shades of ochre and brown.  For some people, this may be part of what their commute to work entails - taking Amtrak between New York and Boston.  The tracks run parrallel and straight through the salt marshes and beaches bordering Eastern Long Island Sound.  Enjoy!

People People People!

You can tell it's finally spring - everyone has finally shed their black for some color on the train!

Nermin and Howard were my seatmates on the train home with me on Thursday night.

Springtime has brought the tourists out and about mixing around with the commuters.  Passing through Grand Central accents from all around the world can be heard among the din of voices echoing against the ceiling.  And everyone needs something to eat downstairs in the cafeteria!