Express

We are on the Express bus to the Bronx for holiday dinner.  My son lives for the Express bus, and why not?  It goes faster than a normal city bus, has comfier seats, is silent (full of people heading home to their out-of-midtown destinations).  AND, it has giant windows that let you see absolutely everything outside without the noise and crowds of actually being outside.  It is a true paradise for an observer of life (and for someone who just likes fast vehicles).

I will leave the fast vehicles part to my son.  For me, an observer of life (except for the fact that I am writing this as we ride), I get to see this oddly pristine version of New York City--rivers, and bridges, and trains parallel to highways.  It is an idealized view, separate from the stresses of tight spaces and high prices and loud noises.  But in the quiet of it all, I can think about the new year and the parts of our celebration where the stresses don't matter.  Children dressed up and getting at least a little taste of what their parents and grandparents have been doing for years.  People who smile and say "Happy New Year" just because you are part of a community.  Music that fills you because you've heard it so many times before or because it inspires a hundred people around you to sing together.

We spend most of our days in "express" mode, hurrying from one commitment to the next, barely thinking about what we are doing, so there is some irony in a bus called "Express" being the thing that allows me to slow down and think a little.  I may not aspire to drive one of these the way my son does, but it sure has been a nice ride.