Happy Father's Day

We don't have anything planned for Father's Day.  Well, not that I know of anyway.  Haley's Dad always seems to have a plan.  He will probably do the one thing he always does on Sunday.  He takes Haley with him to "Train Watch."

I put that in quotes because it is something that is understood at our house, but when I explain it to outsiders they often give me a blank stare.  It is not something that everyone does, but there are those that do.  Haley and her Dad being two of them.

For the uninitiated Train Watching is exactly what is sounds like.  You go somewhere near tracks, you stop and you watch.  A train goes by.  You wait.  Another train goes by.  That's it.  Oh.  And Yes, I do mean freight trains.  The kind you see running along next to you on the highway.  Oh, and Amtrak. 

I wish I could see your face right now.

We also "Watch" steam engines, but that is another story.  That is fun and there are always hundreds of people waiting to see them go by.  It is kind of novel to see one of those bad boys barreling down the tracks blasting smoke and steam.  That is a spectacle.

This is just sitting by the tracks and waiting.  I don't get it, but I know my husband does.  He has friends that do.  Haley does.

Every Sunday morning I get up like it is a regular day, but after that everything changes.  On Sunday, I go to church.  I get up and get myself ready.  That right there is saying something.  I don't get Haley ready on Sunday.  This was never an agreement between myself and my husband, it has just developed organically.  I usually have to be at church early because I volunteer at my church.  I have many roles.  I also have a really difficult time saying no when it comes to my church.  I love them and they love me.  So I usually don't have time to get Haley ready, but also Haley is on Dad's schedule.

He usually doesn't have to get her up.  She has a very good internal clock and she is usually up and rarin' to go on Sunday.  She eats breakfast with Dad.  He gets her dressed, which usually means a train shirt and jeans.  He brushes her teeth and fixes her hair.  Then they leave.  We don't see them again until lunch time.

They don't always go to the same place, but apparently they have the same routine.  They stop somewhere and then Haley undoes her seat belt and climbs in back of the Yukon and sets up whatever toys she has brought and they wait. 

My husband has been doing this since he was young.  He has a scanner so that he knows where the trains are.  He knows which one to expect at what time.  He knows if they have an issue on route and will be late.  He can listen to the conversations between the engineers and the dispatchers.  He even can listen to the crews that are doing maintenance on the tracks.

I have tried to go Train Watching with him.  When we were dating it was fun.  It was a unique experience and I just wanted to spend time with him.  The same was true after we were married.  I saw it as a way to spend time together.  It didn't take long for the appeal to wear off for me.  My husband doesn't just go to the depot where the average person would expect to find a train, he goes out in the boonies.  He goes to places that will make for a good backdrop, because he also likes to take pictures of trains going by.  Those places are usually far from civilization, and when I say civilization I mean restrooms.  A couple of times of that was enough for me.

We did Train Watch as a family after Haley's Big Sis was born, but she seemed to have the same reaction to it that I did.  Then we had Haley.  Little did we know that she would get the fever. 

My daughter is a Rail Fan. 

She loves trains in any form that she can get them.  When she is with her Dad she loves to watch those big trains go by.  As long as she can stay in the back of the Yukon.

So, Honey I have the Yukon all ready to go, I took it to the car wash for you today.  Happy Father's Day.