I finally understood why my dad always stopped to watch the trains

Three years ago I was stuck in traffic outside of Bakersfield, super annoyed, when a freight train started rolling by. I mean, I was about to honk but then I just watched it, all the different cars and graffiti. It hit me that my dad wasn't just killing time, he was taking a minute to watch something big and simple do its job in a world that feels so messy. Has anyone else had a moment like that with something a parent always did?

4 comments

4 Comments

spencer7823mo ago

I'm like @keith900 but with the coffee maker, just staring at it like a weirdo.

robert_scott573mo ago

Remember watching my mom stare at the clothesline. Took me years to see she was just watching the peace of it all.

spencer7821mo ago

Gotta push back on that. Staring at a clothesline or dishwasher isn't peace, it's just zoning out because your brain is fried. My mom did the same thing but she was just exhausted from doing laundry all day.

keith9003mo ago

Yeah, that "peace of it all" part. I finally got it when I caught myself doing the same thing with the dishwasher light in a quiet house.