CoME Episode 10: A commute to work

I have to say that I have really enjoyed living in New England the past almost 30 years. It is even more picturesque and beautiful than I could have imagined, from the town commons to the deep forests to the Quabbin Reservoir to the wonderful architecture. I have made a series of photos of New England Holiday doors and also one I like to call “Portals”, meaning windows, doors and paths, and never tire of seeing something new and different. My friend Maqz, of CSA Podcast fame has a blog and does a series of photos he calls “My New York,” referring to his upstate vista. (Check out some of his work "8 Minutes on High". It is these images I will remember.

One place to see these type things is my commute to work. That is one thing for sure that I think that I will miss - my commute to work time. I know most people hate their commute and I used to be one of those but things are different now for me. Let me explain.

Back in another place and time I hated to commute. I was going to graduate school, classes and field work, 2 hours each way. Drive to the subway, subway into the city, different train uptown. Hot in the summer, cold and damp in the winter. Two hours each way, 4 hours a day.

After I graduated I took a job in Brooklyn, about 20 miles from my house, but across two NYC boroughs. 50 – 60 minutes depending on traffic and time of day. Traffic going in the morning, traffic coming home in the evening. One hour, each way, two hours a day.

When we decided to move to Massachusetts I can remember telling someone that we were less than one days worth of commute away. It took 3 hours to get from our new lives in Massachusetts to NYC. My graduate school commute was 4 hours each day. In Southbridge, MA we lived in a small apartment in a 3 floor walk up. I walked to work, many days, a 10 minute jaunt. But here lies the problem. I was used to a much longer commute and had learned while riding the subway or sitting in traffic, to use the time to decompress from the days aggravation. The short walk or even shorter car ride never gave me enough time.

This brings me to my current job. The commute from North Brookfield is only about 25 minutes but it is just the perfect amount of time to forget about my work-a-day issues. Mrsfabp will often comment that I don’t talk about work issues much and this is because that 25 minute drive lets me let them go. I drive past one of the prettiest commons in New England, lots of forest and trees and for several miles along a nice rolling river. On my daily commutes I have seen deer, turkeys, an osprey, foxes, turtles and coyotes (sorry no road runners though!) I cannot imagine a prettier ride and will miss that very much. I listen with horror to NYC radio stations talking about hour long traffic waits to use the bridge or tunnel into the city and cringe. I think of my brother’s commute from way out on Long Island on the Long Island Rail Road and then subway and marvel at his steadfastness.

So this week I have had two days that required my special commute time. On Tuesday I got into a debate with a couple of teabagging, ultra conservatives who felt that lack of health care was natural selection. My God, you can’t cure stupid. Then yesterday I was subject to a barrage of email related to some work decisions that had been made and someone felt they weren’t consulted and so were going to the union to complain. My God, you cannot cure stupid.

How did I deal? That great car ride home, my special commute time. Window open, They Might be Giants “The Else” blasting from the stereo. That’s how I roll! I can’t call my trip to and from work each day, a commute. I’ll just call it a ride. A special ride. My daily 25 minute ride in the country.

What was I bothered about again?