I was talking to my Dad the other night and caused him to have some flashbacks of a younger Dad. I mean a time when he was younger and a Dad. See I am now a Commuter. I mean not just in the car, but on a train. I work near DC and live in Baltimore so the MARC train is a great ride for me. But until my accident which has left me not able to drive for a couple months, I had until then sneered at train riders. You know, from my car. On 95south as I sat in traffic. Now I am loving it. I don't have to worry about traffic jams or accidents. I don't have to pay a fortune for gas. I can watch the leaves on the trees as they change color and relax in the seat. I love the fact that I can read. Oh yeah. Its great. Now I did this commuting before and it was in Boston. On the world famous 'T' line. I road that in and out of Boston every day and it was no fun. Scrunched up with people, crowded and smelly and noisy. Nope. No reading there, no watching the trees sail by. Just fighting for a seat and watching the pregnant woman have to stand because no men would give her a spot or standing so close to a guy that you face is in his chest and trying to look nonchalant about it. Or even worse, when you are sitting and he stands and its crowded, his crotch is in your face and you both have to look nonchalant. Oh boy! But back to my Dad. See my Dad in his younger days rode the subway and then train from NYC to Englewood NJ where we had a house. I was just a wee tot so I don't remember much of the home there. It was a ride he took every day for nigh on 12 years. My Mom would pick him up at the station at night and drop him off in the morning. He regaled us with tales of the commute when I told him I was commuting. Much in the manner of all Dads, he said "you don't know what real commuting is my child, when I was your age, I had to commute to and from work in the cold and harsh winters of a NY winter and in my barefeet" or something like that. He told me how he was stuck in NYC with my Mom one weekend. They took the train into the city and went to a show, and to visit with friends and then there was a black out -the Great Blackout of 1965 - and nine months later was my little brother! Oh boy!! But Dad did say something interesting. Its not the destination, its the ride that is important. I thought that was a great motto and I will be remembering it for awhile. Thanks Dad!