One of my favorite things are trains. I can't think of viewing anything more powerful than watching a train, full steam, make its way down the tracks. There is definitely a model railroad in my future. Those Lego trains looks pretty cool. (How am I not an employee of Toys R' Us? Some men have there golf clubs or speedboats but me you can find in the toy section...that's a story for a different day though...) I enjoy hearing the train whistle in the morning hours. Trains make me think of rustic and rural America. They represent a slice of Americana. I'm not just speaking of the trains of course, but also of train yards, depots and the etched in time brick buildings, loading docks, grain silos and the like that speak of a bygone era.
Another one of my favorite things are planes. Small, big, old or new I like them all, especially the take offs. I enjoy plane travel for the simple fact of what feels like taking off in a rocket. Years ago, I enjoyed going to McCarran International Airport, in Las Vegas, with friends, to watch the planes take off and land. When I graduated from High School, Bishop Randy Stevens took the graduating Seniors for a plane ride around the Las Vegas Valley. Pretty nifty to see the temple from the air. Planes themselves are a work of art. Mechanical birds with the same majesty of a hawk or an eagle. I marvel at the engineering involved in making flight possible. During my mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints while serving in Inglewood, California, our apartment was right next to a set of railroad tracks and one of the runways for LAX. Louder than hell but I loved it!
I am quite fond of cars as well. A part of the western culture. Hot Rods, old and new, make me want to take to the open road. I love the works of art that came out of the auto plants and off the pages of design plans in the city of Detroit. Cars of a certain era, with fins and hood ornaments, are as awe inspiring as a masterwork painting. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the breathlessness of the speed experienced in opening up a car on a varied roads of the West to test its limits. Whether it is in the painted desert or among the austere mountains, it makes my heart race. Cars also make me think of the architecture of drive in burger joints and movie theatres. I close my eyes and feel the warm summer air and taste the feeling of adventure; the crackle of the speaker attached to the side of the car.
In each instance, whether it be trains, plans, or automobiles, I can't helped but recognize a reoccurring theme of appreciating the past and seeing its memories, designs, architecture and engineering shape the present and future.
One of my favorite things are trains. I can't think of viewing anything more powerful than watching a train, full steam, make its way down the tracks. There is definitely a model railroad in my future. Those Lego trains looks pretty cool. (How am I not an employee of Toys R' Us? Some men have there golf clubs or speedboats but me you can find in the toy section...that's a story for a different day though...) I enjoy hearing the train whistle in the morning hours. Trains make me think of rustic and rural America. They represent a slice of Americana. I'm not just speaking of the trains of course, but also of train yards, depots and the etched in time brick buildings, loading docks, grain silos and the like that speak of a bygone era.
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