A place to call my own

Parking place, that is. We received word late today that the lot behind our building is once again fully open for business. It will be a bit confusing, as the instructions say those with these permits need to park in that section of the lot now, and those with that permit need to park in this section...but it's all good.

Taking the bus for the last eight weeks has been...an experience. First, it's been a lesson in discipline. When I drive to work, I really don't need to leave the house until close to 7 a.m., though I'm usually out of the house before six-thirty. To catch the early bus, however, I need to be out of the house by six. You wouldn't think that extra half hour would make much difference, but it really does.

It's been an exercise in patience. Nothing you do will make the bus come sooner...or bring it back if it was a couple of minutes early and you - weren't.

But most of all, it's been an opportunity to experience bits and pieces of others' lives. The woman at the morning stop who enjoys going on bus tours for her days off. The young man who goes to MATC and has to flag down the Gerkes Corner bus in the afternoon. The woman crocheting hats at the bus stop; she says she can't follow a pattern, and everything she makes turns out as a hat.

There are many more, of all ages, backgrounds and circumstances. Glimpses of different ways of life, opinions, occupations. All in all, it's been a pleasure.