Arrival at Union Station in Washington DC for connection to Chicago involves managing those five pieces of luggage all by myself up an escalator until I can get them to the comfortable Metro Lounge where I am able to check-in two bags all the way through to San Diego. (At the time, it seems like taking a big chance to do so, but they arrive just fine a couple of days later just as I do.)

Very cold in DC. Lots of snow piles. The first thing I see from the train’s window as we pull in to the area of the station, before it goes underground below the Capitol, are piles of blankets on L’Enfant with homeless people bundled beneath them. It seems difficult to believe we can’t do better in this country. We tackle problems clear across the globe but can’t seem to put American problem solving skills and resolve to the task of our own poor and ill. (On the other hand, I am on my way around the world on a comfortable ship. What business do I have being critical if I’m not actively engaged in that task myself? It’s an element of guilt that many on the voyage bear and it gets worse after the January 12 earthquake in Haiti.)

It is almost too cold to venture outside Union Station but I have all of my winter clothes on (rather than packing them) and I have a few hours to wait for the Chicago train’s departure so I take the plunge and walk the couple blocks to the U.S. Botanical Garden at the far corner of the Capitol Green (now white with snow), leaving three small bags in the Metro Lounge, the 1st class lounge for sleeper car travelers. The Hawaii and tropical conservatory “rooms” are redolent and warm. Still decorated for Christmas. Still crowded with visitors, especially families for the fantasy trainscapes in the East Gallery. It would be a great Sunday to visit lots more museums on the Mall because almost no one else is out on a frigid Sunday but it is fiercely cold so I walk (sprint) back to the station and finish reading Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge.

While I was out, I forgot to bring my new little camera with me so I couldn’t take any photos of the frozen fountains and pools on the Mall. I’d forgotten how beautiful the big trees and monuments look with snow on them. Union Station, though, is a world apart from how I remember it from decades ago while I attended Georgetown. Much better. Once again, a nice overnight trip in the Capitol Limited sleeper car to Chicago. Over and over again, I overhear people say that they are taking the train rather than flying. It certainly seems a much more civilized choice.