Remembering TFL*...sort of

Although I think about London a lot, and often find things that remind me of my magical time there, I rarely have experiences here in Texas that let me recapture a feeling from my "dream season."

However, I've recently found one. It involves a very mundane activity but I'm enjoying it immensely and I'm sure some of that enjoyment derives from the London memories that it stirs. The activity is just...plain...getting to work. Via mass transit.

I've started riding the bus to work (well, at least part-way; our system doesn't offer the breadth of coverage that London's does so I have to drive about five minutes to catch a bus that drops me off a few blocks from the Library. But it's still fun! And it still reminds me of all the great tube and bus and train rides I had in the UK).

You can see where I get on in the morning on the right above. And the much nicer stop where I wait for the eastbound #90 in the afternoon is on the left. (Believe me, the shade has been welcome on our hot summer afternoons!)

Besides the deep-down satisfaction of re-living, at least on some level, one of my daily London routines, my new habit has some other advantages:

• more regular exercise: the walk of essentially 3 blocks each way from the stop to the Library is not to be sneezed at, and I've actually lost a couple of pounds—that seem to be staying off—since I've started riding the bus (I was very slim and fit while in London, in spite of eating very well)
• more reading time: I love getting to read while someone else drives; I thought I might miss the extra NPR-listening time in the car but that hasn't happened (I just listen to more stories online)
• less gas expended: although I drive a Prius, I'm still saving some gas...and those buses would be chugging up and down Woodlawn Avenue whether I was on them or not
• making new friends: I've made the acquaintance of another St. Mary's employee who's a hard-core bus rider and who's been able to answer my questions and provide encouragement...plus diverting conversation on those walks between bus stop and campus

But my enjoyment of the activity can't be analyzed on a strictly scorecard-type basis. I just like to do it. And I know that a good big reason for that can be traced back to my car-less London days.

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*Transport for London...absolutely essential website for getting around London with minimal hassles