La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
I left the house Friday afternoon having no idea where I was going. A train went by and I decided to catch the next one to Plaza Mayor. It wasn’t that I wanted to shop. The airport is nearby and I wanted to watch the planes fly overhead. Also, there’s a nice park-like setting with birdhouses, bat houses, and butterfly boxes.
Although the train was crammed full in both directions (which is more common lately), it was only 27 minutes and the weather, as you can see, was beautiful. A new large children’s park recently opened alongside the train station. It wasn’t very busy, and it wasn’t as fun as watching airplanes, but I enjoyed it while I waited for the crowded train home. I bought sugar-free dried ginger and mango. My big splurge.
Watching the planes is so popular, there’s even a live flight board in the shopping center. Or maybe it’s there for people shopping on their way to the airport, which is just one train stop away. Yeah, that makes more sense.
Salí de casa el viernes por la tarde sin tener idea de adónde iba. Pasó un tren y decidí coger el siguiente hasta Plaza Mayor. No era que quisiera comprar. El aeropuerto está cerca y quería ver los aviones sobrevolarlo. Además, hay un agradable entorno tipo parque con pajareras, casas de murciélagos, y cajas de mariposas.
Aunque el tren iba abarrotado en ambos sentidos (lo que últimamente es más habitual), fueron sólo 27 minutos y el tiempo, como podéis comprobar, era precioso. Recientemente se inauguró un nuevo gran parque infantil junto a la estación de tren. No estaba muy ocupado y no era tan divertido como mirar aviones, pero lo disfruté mientras esperaba el tren lleno de gente a casa. Compré jengibre y mango secos sin azúcar. Mi gran derroche.
Ver los aviones es tan popular que incluso hay un tablero de vuelo en vivo en el centro comercial. O tal vez esté ahí para la gente que va de compras de camino al aeropuerto, que está a sólo una parada de tren. Sí, eso tiene más sentido.
• Ese chico (lapso de tiempo) sólo fingía que le gustaba, creo.
• Ella, en cambio, fue dos veces.
• No, en realidad no fue Arnold. Pero su rostro parecía encajar con todo el look de camuflaje acolchado de color salmón y verde macho. Estaba en mi mente porque tengo gafas de sol parecidas y varios españoles me han llamado Terminator. (Arnold y yo nos parecemos mucho).
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What a good idea to not know where you are going! Just let it unfold on its own.
Beautiful weather and parks too!
How was the train ride home?
Jim:
The train ride home was mobbed, as well. But I did get a seat after a few stops.
Have you seen the new State Farm Insurance commercials with Arnold? They were done for the Super Bowl. You don’t sound like the terminator (thankfully.). Looks like a wonderful afternoon out.
David:
I hadn’t seen the commercials, so I just watched one now. Imagine Louie from Taxi having better pronunciation.
Are youse from Brokyn? I can’t even spell Brooklyn English.
David:
The managing director at my last corporate job, my boss, was from New Jersey. She always said “youse.” She said it in corporate meetings, at expos we hosted, at special events. At first I was embarrassed for her. Then I got to know her better and it gave me great satisfaction. You could see the eye rolls everywhere. By the time I left, she wasn’t speaking to me. It gave me additional satisfaction when she was fired a month later. Am I awful? I can’t think of anyone I knew in Brooklyn actually saying youse but there must have been someone. And oh the southerners with their “y’alls” and “all y’alls”. I love that.
There’s a Rio Seco near us … it’s the Santa Fe River but I’ve never seen water in it in 8 years. The “Arnold” looks like a computer generated image. His sense of style is…well he doesn’t have one.
That wasn’t anonymous…it was me. When I use Firefox or iPhone, it doesn’t recognize me for some reason…technology, I’ll never understand it!
Frank:
Not sure if you realized, I photoshopped Arnold’s head (from an ad) onto the real person I saw at Plaza Mayor.
Boud here. What a good idea, to just have an unplanned excursion. We have small local airports, with little aircraft like Piper Cubs, and I can watch them from home.
Boud:
When we lived in DC, we used to ride our bikes past National Airport where you could watch planes take off over our heads from the other side of a chain link fence. I wonder if you can still get as close.
Sounds like a pleasant afternoon in the beautiful sunshine!
Debra:
I could have spent hours watching the planes.
I love days of pointless wandering! Those bird houses are interesting, with little slots for openings. Could they be for bats, maybe?
And what kind of environment calls for salmon-colored camouflage? Maybe a desert area like the Grand Canyon?
Steve:
Bird houses, butterfly houses, and bat houses. I forgot to mention those! Some of the camouflage “fashion” I see wouldn’t blend in with anything but more camouflage fashion.
What fun photos! Of course you now have me thinking about some of my favorite scenes from “Planes, Trains, & Automobiles”.
Kelly:
I realized when I wrote the title that I’ve never even seen “Planes, Trains, & Automobiles.”
I remember when people used to drive to a place around here and park, to watch the planes coming and going. Being able to walk there and enjoy a beautiful sky and colorful surroundings, seems like a great option.
I, for one, don’t at all mind hearing updates on your “human upkeep” issues, like your bunionette surgery. If nothing else, it’s interesting to hear about how differently things are done, sometimes, in European countries. We just all want to be on the sidelines, rooting for you 🙂
Judy C:
I’m sure I can arrange for viewing space in the surgery. We could have a party. I’ll be awake the entire time.
Oh, darn, we missed the party!
Judy C:
There’ll be another.
Glen was talking this morning about how he’d stopped and watched some guys fly their remote controlled planes and helicopters. He said that some of the aircraft were almost as big as the real thing. I asked him if anyone was flying their dogs around. He said no. What a waste of space!
I would love to take my grandkids to that park. I have to say that the slide does look pretty intimidating. I bet it gets hot in the summer.
Good for you for being all spontaneous!
Ms. Moon
MsMaryMoon:
I often take walks in random directions. Hopping on the train was a fun random thing to do. I love watching those “toy” planes, too. And, yes, some are enormous.
Until I was in the third grade, I lived in a neighborhood just around the corner from a major airport. Lying in my bedroom, and hearing a jet fly overhead, I always worried one would crash right into the house.
Kirk:
SG lived in a flight path as a child. He remember everyone being outside for a barbecue and conversation coming to a dead stop when a plane was overhead, and then immediately recommencing as if it was perfectly natural. I would have worried like you.
Sometimes all we need is to do is pop a squat in a park or nature and enjoy the day.
Mistress Borghese:
I’ll have to remember to pop a squat next time.
Good for you for taking an impromptu ! It is something we should all do at times.
Urspo:
It was fun to walk out the door without a clue what I was doing and then just hop on the train.
You’re much better looking than Arnold! What a beautiful spot to enjoy the afternoon.
Love,
Janie
janiejunebug:
It is so strange that just that pair of sunglasses makes people think I’m Arnold.
“I’ll be back. Just as soon as I change into some pants that don’t go with the top.”
Walt the Fourth:
I’m curious to know where that guy found the quilted camouflage. Before I replaced his head with Arnold’s, he was a nice-looking and macho-looking guy.
My mother lives near a small downtown airport so plane washing is easy
Adam:
I could do it for hours.