Riding The Rails

“Hey, bud,” I said picking up Judah at school three hours after dropping him off. “Should we have lunch… in Elmhurst?”

Because two things converged today; early dismissal and Judah’s love of Metra. Well, three things, the third being my knowledge of the two other things.

“YES! Thanks, Dad!”

“Cool. Should we go to Egg Harbor or Stray Hen?”

“Stray.”

We started taking Metra in the summer. It was something to try in the doldrums. At first Judah did NOT like it because as the train approaches, it’s BIG and LOUD. It’s basically a massive wall machine that rushes in and towers over you only to anxiously wait a moment before speeding off to the next stop. But each time we took it he became less and less afraid. Now he’s probably a filled out form or two away from becoming an actual conductor.

“Next is River Forest,” he said proudly standing in the aisle with one hand carefully holding onto the seat rest. “Then Maywood.”

“What’s after-“

“Melrose Park, Bellwood, Berkeley, and then Elmhurst. We should be in Elmhurst in about 14 minutes. Maybe 13.”