This week at my Covenant Group, our topic is Journeys. I've been thinking about Grand Central Train Station in NYC.
In the early 1990s, I had a good wait there before I got on a commuter train for CT to visit my long-time friend J. I remember just loving to sit in that great hall, watching people going by ... Just people in motion on the way FROM somewhere TO somewhere.
Everyone was in motion (except me at that moment), but there were lulls, too. It was like being in a cathedral with that wonderful high ceiling (I think the term is ascension--the architecture lifts you up) and the light and open spaces--except there was no oppression of religion there--none of that baggage. This was a PUBLIC space. This is what America is about, I thought : Co-existence.
I went up/out onto the street to get a bite to eat. That, too, was wonderful--I was amazed at the sheer diversity there : Italians, Greeks, Lebanese, Thai, Vietnamese--so many languages, and cultures, and foods. It was wonderful to see so many 1st generation immigrants selling ethnic foods (the real thing!). I loved it! All the smells, all the accents, all those characters, all those people. I had thought I'd be terrified of being mugged or swindled in NYC, but I was fine.
I know I wrote a letter there, waiting for my next train. I felt renewed having gotten to rest there. The train trip in from Chicago was not at all the comfortable and romantic train ride with beautiful vistas I had imagined it would be. My ticket was coach. It's not at all comfortable to spend the night in one of those coach train seats. Our train car was not designed for overnight trips--but that's where we were. Parts of the track were in need of repair so we couldn't go more than 35 mph for long stretches. Train travel is so different in France and Scotland and Japan! The US has invested in the highway system at the expense of Railways over the years. That trip was a huge disappointment to me--until I saw Gran Central Station!
Last year, I saw an episode of American Experience where they did a whole show on Grand Central Train Station. [You can actually watch it at this link!] I was thrilled to hear that other people felt the same way I did.
In the early 1990s, I had a good wait there before I got on a commuter train for CT to visit my long-time friend J. I remember just loving to sit in that great hall, watching people going by ... Just people in motion on the way FROM somewhere TO somewhere.
Everyone was in motion (except me at that moment), but there were lulls, too. It was like being in a cathedral with that wonderful high ceiling (I think the term is ascension--the architecture lifts you up) and the light and open spaces--except there was no oppression of religion there--none of that baggage. This was a PUBLIC space. This is what America is about, I thought : Co-existence.
I went up/out onto the street to get a bite to eat. That, too, was wonderful--I was amazed at the sheer diversity there : Italians, Greeks, Lebanese, Thai, Vietnamese--so many languages, and cultures, and foods. It was wonderful to see so many 1st generation immigrants selling ethnic foods (the real thing!). I loved it! All the smells, all the accents, all those characters, all those people. I had thought I'd be terrified of being mugged or swindled in NYC, but I was fine.
I know I wrote a letter there, waiting for my next train. I felt renewed having gotten to rest there. The train trip in from Chicago was not at all the comfortable and romantic train ride with beautiful vistas I had imagined it would be. My ticket was coach. It's not at all comfortable to spend the night in one of those coach train seats. Our train car was not designed for overnight trips--but that's where we were. Parts of the track were in need of repair so we couldn't go more than 35 mph for long stretches. Train travel is so different in France and Scotland and Japan! The US has invested in the highway system at the expense of Railways over the years. That trip was a huge disappointment to me--until I saw Gran Central Station!
Last year, I saw an episode of American Experience where they did a whole show on Grand Central Train Station. [You can actually watch it at this link!] I was thrilled to hear that other people felt the same way I did.
[From the AE show:] Rita Gabis: "There's something about Grand Central. There's such an echo of the past there of journey there. It's amazes me still every time I come into the station.
There's the faces of people who are waiting, of people who are hurrying, who are looking forward to where they're going or maybe resigned or tired; strangers to the city or so used to the city they're blind to what's around them.
It's such a beautiful metaphor for all the arrivals and departures that really make up the moments of our lives."
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