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We went to see the trains last night. Among many other family night events. This break from our previous busyness of gigging and serving and doing and being everywhere has been so amazing. So refreshing. So great for our family, I believe. We spend every evening either together as a family, exploring our town or just doing something fun together at home, or we spend it with friends, sharing our lives and our homes.

But last night we finally got to see the trains.

There is a track about 2 miles from our house. It would be great to walk there, but the road is a wee bit perilous for such an excursion with such small children. So, we drove. We parked the van in a little gravel pull-off area right by the tracks and got out to explore the area until a train arrived.

We found some really neat rocks, the sparkly kind with lots of colors. We found some deer tracks in the mud. We also found a few snails, three or four Gold Finches and even some raspberries! We later found out that we had seen some Locust trees as well, thanks to our wise and knowledgeable Grandpa Tom!

It was great! We were having so much fun just enjoying the simple things. We didn’t need a movie to entertain us, or a video game, or a board game, or an amusement park, or any other sort of contrived activity that all have a place and are all certainly enjoyable. But last night, and for the past couple months, we have just been enjoying the simple.

And then, just before sunset, while telling stories back in our van about some armed robots that Dad had read about earlier… the train crossing lights started flashing and the bells started sounding.

A train was coming!!!

We all excitedly stood at the front of our van, facing the tracks, eagerly anticipating the arrival of our first close-up train! We heard the train’s whistle growing closer, and within a few short moments, there it was!!! Big, and fast, and powerful… and we all waved, prompting a few short toots aimed in our direction by the engineer.

We all loved it! And I suggested we stick around another five minutes to see if another would go by, and sure enough, it did! We saw a passenger train go the other way, and though a bit shorter in length, he was a bit more busy tooting his train whistle, and Ian said, “I saw him waving!!” 🙂

So, perhaps though it felt like we were the recipients of the majority of the joy that night, perhaps we also brightened the trip for a few train drivers.

Point is, we didn’t do your typical “entertain me” evening that is quite common in our country these days, and probably had some of the most fun we have in a long time. And we did it together.

I can’t wait for the next train. 🙂