The Bus Riders

It has been a festive week, and Tiny Tiger and his friends have traveled with me every day. We visited the Nittany Lion Inn gingerbread house. We took in some art and culture (and got busted!) at the Palmer Museum. We hung out on the huge Christmas tree inside the Glass House at the Arboretum. On this day, we had no big plans. But we DID do something the creatures always find very exciting and fun: we rode the bus!

There is, alas, a very sad story about this bus. This is the G bus to Stormstown, which I have been riding (especially in times of disaster and also in winter weather) for many years. When I bought my house in Stormstown, back in 2004, there was no public transportation. It was a wish I made that came true: a few years later, bus service was extended to our region, a rural area about a 20- to 25-minutes' drive outside of State College.

But many good things, it seems, do come to an end. The official word came down recently that the G bus service to my town will be discontinued in early January. It is a big loss for the handful of us who ride it regularly, but apparently it's not working out fiscally for the bus company. Too bad for ALL of us, as public transportation is such a critical aspect of rural ACCESS, especially for the poor and elderly and disabled populations.

In other news, this week marks a milestone: I have migrated offices at work, and am now in a bright and airy office with windows. You may see the new office in the extras. It was my goal to finish unpacking by the end of the work week, and I did just that; Friday begins the Christmas holiday break for me. So: mission accomplished!

The soundtrack song is for the photo above, for my creature-friends, and for the bus which we have appreciated so much:  the Who, with Magic Bus.