I  hit the road and stick out my well-worn thumb.

Three hours and no ride. A car full of teenagers finally picks me up and here we go! The sun is setting and the boys say, “Alex, you’ll never get out of Nebraska hitchhiking in this lifetime. Listen, there’s a train station up ahead. Freight train. It goes through the Pacific Northwest to Oregon. Go ahead, talk to a hobo of the rails and hop that freight train”. 

Wow! In two days I could be in college! Did I tell you that I like college?

Down in the freight yard, middle of nowhere, somewhere, I find your so-called train-hopping hobo. 

He explains to me, “Here’s how it works. The train comes in every hour or so. Pick a train car to your liking”. While eyeing my shoes and clothing he continues, “Pick an empty car. A young guy like you will get rolled and have nothing left but your own naked ass, and you’ll be lucky if they let you keep that. The cops make one round around the train within ten minutes from the train leaving, so when they are on the other side of the train, jump in”.

Well, all the cars seem to be closed and locked so I pick an open train car – you know, no doors no top. Up the ladder and over the side I go into a car full of gravel and coal and miscellaneous railroad junk. When I stand up my head peeks over the top of the car. There are small-drilled holes in the side of the car and I could peek out without anyone seeing me. Hopping a freight train has always been illegal, you know, jail time, you have to keep low. At the end of the train there is a red caboose. Yes! A red caboose! I swear!

Excited and scared to death I sink back into my bed of rocks and think, “I made it!” The cops are gone and the train rolls on. Oregon or bust!

Freight trains travel through country that people will never see. Did you know that? In my idiocy, I can’t wait to see it!

Day Flight

5:30 am. Today I visit the psychiatrist’s office. 

Did I tell you I was Bipolar? Anyway, to sit in a room with me is like watching the Discovery Channel, you know, the episode where you watch a monkey swinging from vine to tree and up and down as fast as your eyes will allow you to follow. I can tell you stories of the past, philosophize, analyze and make you laugh and cry all at the same time. But I could disappear at any time.