Trains, Tourists and Summer Writing

I love Manassas because it is a small city and a tourist destination.  I often see folks with cameras and strollers, pausing to look at maps.  I like to give a welcoming smile or help with directions.  There’s so much here to see and do!  Just look at visitmanassas.org and you’ll find everything from ice cream socials, Saturday night dances and Summersounds concerts, to the big Fourth of July celebration, Prince William County Fair and Sesquicentennial commemorations ahead.  I love trains, so the recent Rail Festival in Old Town Manassas is my favorite.  That’s why we named our local writers networking group Write by the Rails.

My brief but glorious 2012 summer vacation was a trip to Banner Elk, North Carolina, where my husband, Curtis, met up with other members of the Eastern Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNCRR) Historical Society.  The air was cool and crisp, and I enjoyed sitting in a wooden rocking chair to work on one of my short stories while he and his group went on an excursion to the Doe River Gorge and a special after-hours trip on the steam engine lovingly nicknamed Tweetsie.

Two experiences really impressed me.  One was meeting a teenager named Benjamin Livingston.  Benjamin is dual enrolled in high school and college, and is passionate about steam engines.  He built a child-sized model of a steam engine out of recycled materials and takes it around to local fairs and festivals.  The thrill of his life was getting invited into the cab of the steam engine on its special run.  He even helped to shovel coal.  Turns out I’m related by marriage to Benjamin – his great, great grandfather, and my husband’s great grandfather were brothers from Boomer, North Carolina.

The second experience was listening to society members honor one of their members who passed away in Missouri recently.  His name was John R. Waite, author of The Blue Ridge Stemwinder, a book about the ET&WNCRR, http://cfordart.com/theblueridgestemwinderbook/order.html.

John Waite was as fascinated by trains as young Benjamin Livingston.  If it wasn’t for John, there might not even be a society or a book that recorded the history.  He was the driving force, and his premature death was a shock to many.  John Waite makes me think about those special people who step forward in Manassas to make a difference.  Things don’t just happen on their own.  It takes someone like John or Benjamin, someone with a passion, to get things rolling. 

So no matter where you go (or stay) this summer, take a moment to look at and experience the history and the people around you.  Think about how you can work to make your own dreams a reality.  Consider that you just might be a driving force, too.

If you’re a writer in the Manassas, Manassas Park or Prince William region, network with us at http://writebytherails.blogspot.com/

As my minister, Vinnie, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Old Town Manassas likes to quote:

Life is short and we have not too much time
for gladdening the hearts of those
who are traveling the dark way with us.
Oh, be swift to love! Make haste to be kind.

henri-frederic amiel - 1885