Train Thoughts.

This afternoon I skipped out of work at 12.00, drove down to the station and took the train to Exeter for a hospital appointment at the RDE. It was an interesting afternoon, not in terms of the appointment which I suspect is just the start of another series of diagnostic tests to find the cause of the pain in my legs. So far a type of neuralgia has been mentioned which first made me go 'Ah', then 'Oh dear, neuralgia is hard to treat' but when I thought a little longer I realised that neuralgia just means nerve pain which even I know is the problem. Next step is another MRI at our local hospital.Waiting for the bus in wet Exeter.

I chose to travel up to Exeter by train as the journey time is much the same and there is a direct bus to the hospital which I found easily enough. Also the hospital car parks are very expensive and notorious for not having any spaces. That combined with a complex one-way street system made me decide that public transport would be better, and it was. Now that I've made the journey once and know where to go it will be very easy. As I sat on the train for the hour's journey up, looking out at rain soaked water meadows my thoughts went back to the first time I travelled up on the Tarka Line 2 years ago. It was probably the first time in 30 years that I had been on public transport by myself. Having children and owning a car puts your journeys in a little family bubble usually shared with at least one other adult. 2 years ago we had thoughts of moving to the other side of the world and there was the possibility that I would be making some journeys on my own. I well remembered thinking (on a trip to the Bristol Dental Hospital) if I would be making similar solo journeys in other countries. Would I be looking out at 'foreign' hills and wondering about the lives of the people who lived in the houses seen through the train window? Even on those day trips I made the effort to use buses (instead of jumping in taxis) and (shock horror) strike up conversations with people as the first steps to venturing out into the big wide world alone. The job situation (you need a job before you can get a residential visa) now seems to rule out the big move but maybe we'll still do some travelling.

Coming back on the train set off more strange thoughts. The 2 carriage train filled up completely at Exeter Central and I was surprised to see that most of the passengers travelled all the way back to Barnstaple (an hour's journey). It was dark outside and the train was making those usual hissing & clacking train noises and it was very warm and soporific with the hum of groups of girls chattering away. When we lived in London I had a reoccurring dream where I discovered an Underground line where the last stop was in a moorland wilderness. I guess that was a reflection of my desire to escape the city. Tonight as I half drifted off I kept imagining that when we arrived at our station it would be a reversal of my escaping dreams and we would be in the hub of a great city. That was reinforced by the fact this was the older of the 2 trains which has carriages that are the same as old fashioned underground train carriages (apart from the hanging straps) with cramped bench seats. Driving out of Barnstaple even the industrial area seemed so open and spacious and once up in the hills I felt I could breathe freely again. I need my open spaces.