Room with A View!

Today the northeast wind stormed all day through the Inland Empire of Southern California. I don't like the wind, but I love the view it provides.

Our backyard faces a wildness meadowland (actually a defunct golf course) with views south toward our city, the community we have lived in almost all of our lives. Mr. Fun arrived here with his parents when he was six weeks old. I arrived the summer before 9th grade. Our journey to this home was long, but with few stops.

We enjoyed a little apartment for 14 months when we were first married at 15 and 19. Then my parents moved away and we rented their home for about 4 years and then purchased it and resided there till our two children were grown. Then in August of 1994 we packed up all our belongings and moved a mile-and-a-half to this "Edge of Forever" home.

When we wake-up in the morning we see that view. When we stand at the kitchen window we see that view. The family room faces that view as do all the upstairs bedrooms. The view dominates our lives and we NEVER tire of seeing it.

We are far enough from the freeways--the 91 and the 15--that we do not hear traffic noise. What we do hear is the haunting sound of the train off in the distance as it clickity-clacks through the landscape sounding its whistle as it approaches roadways. When out-of-town friends stay here, they often comment with wonder about the trains coming and going through the community. When I was a little girl my parents took us by train one Christmas season from Los Angeles to Chicago and then on to Milwaukee. I treasure that memory and today the whistle of the train conjures scenes from that winter holiday journey of many years ago.

So as this second Saturday of 2009 nears the Finish Line here on the West Coast of America, I thought you might enjoy our view and I trust that the train will sound from some hidden place in your memory.