Train Whistle Dreams of Faraway Places

First off this week, I need to tell everyone the plans right now are for me to have laproscopic surgery in Billings on Friday, April 13, to remove a large kidney stone in my left kidney. I had a kidney infection for over three months because of the stone.

Secondly, since I am due for surgery, I won’t be having a column for a few weeks. Please know I deeply appreciate all of the prayers said for me and concern shown. I live in an incredible area, I wouldn’t trade for anything.

Every day I hear a train whistle many times over. Of course, that whistle belongs mostly to freight trains. Trains hauling wheat, oil, coal and a plethora of consumer goods.

But to me hearing that whistle brings so many other things to mind - faraway places, places I want to visit but most likely never will. Places I’ve read about. Places wherein the history not only of our nation but our world lies.

It’s been almost 12 years since I had the opportunity to spend three weeks in England. Every day I was there I was able to see so much of what I’d read about all my life. I was able to stand on the steps of Buckingham Palace and watch the changing of the guard. One day was spent touring Hampton Court Palace and seeing where Henry VIII lived with Anne Boleyn.

I walked through the grounds of the Tower of London and saw all the crown jewels. Stood in a chamber of a tower where a machine called the rack was used to torture prisoners. In several of the cells I observed writings that were hundreds of years old prisoners had etched into the walls, and sampled foods I’d only read about. Foods such as clotted cream, mushy peas, a full English breakfast and authentic Irish stew.

The year 2006 also brought with it the chance to fulfill a lifelong dream -- going to Nashville, Tenn., and attending the Grand Ole Opry. How thrilled I was when the stage curtain went up, revealing Porter Wagoner and his band. The entire trip is etched in my memory and still brings me smiles.

For years I’d seen movies and television shows that showed Las Vegas. The chance came for me to spend five days with a group of friends whose homes ranged from California to Texas to Florida and even overseas to England, Austria and Australia. What a trip that was! Seeing all the glitz, glamour, and brightly-colored lights, attending a night show complete with women in stunning costumes and walking along Front Street watching a fantastic light show.

And on each trip, I traveled for the most part by train. Not once did I tire of the scenery rips along the way. And to top it all off, I visited with so many interesting people.

One thing I’ve learned with the trips I’ve taken. They were all trips I’d wanted to take for years. But, as it’s often been said, life is what happens when you are making plans. Holding down a full-time job and taking care of my invalid mother, then marrying, moving over 1,000 miles from my family to start and raise my own took precedence.

It wasn’t until children had all left home that I was able to do some traveling. So when you have the time, or make the time, listen to that train whistle and follow its call. Don’t let time pass you by and you find yourself wishing you had done things you’d always dreamed about, no matter if it’s to take a trip or learned to do something you’ve always wanted to.