I was a StarTran kid. The Havelock bus route was my summertime staple. It ran right past my house, made a tight loop around a two block radius before heading back downtown. The first squeal of the disc brakes was my ten minute warning signal. It gave me time to grab bus fare, scribble mom a note about where I was headed and when I'd be back, and bolt toward the bus stop.
As a parent I never wondered whether Naomi would learn to ride the bus. It was a given. We started fostering the habit late this summer. Saturday morning she dreams up a local destination like the library, the swimming pool, or Grandma Mel's house. We check the StarTran maps and head out the door.
Don't get me wrong, StarTran isn't the end all be all of mass transit systems. The schedules and routes are often inconvenient. But it's a manageable and relatively kid-friendly. It gives her a good primer on how to get around though Naomi has yet to take a trip solo. Probably sometime after she turns eight, we've agreed.
In the mean time, I rather enjoy teaching her how it works. We read books and make up word puzzles as we wait at the curb. Sometimes we'll daydream outloud. Naomi quickly tired of my Havelock bus stories. She's more curious about the buses serving Edinburgh. She likes the thought of the red double-decker bus. The luxury liner I took from Mexico City to Oaxaca de Juarez also sounds interesting since it screened a Jim Carey movie enroute. She thinks the campus shuttles sound less exotic but more functional.
Mobility is pretty potent and powerful stuff when you get right down to it. And to a seven-year-old getting her feet wet with this StarTran system well, it just opens up a whole world of possibilities now doesn't it?
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Currently Reading : Bright-Sided: How The Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich
Reading with Naomi: Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
Personal Soundtrack: Hat Full of Stars by Cyndi Lauper
Dinner Line Up: Thai curry, spinach/cream cheese rangoon & steamed rice.
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2 comments:
Jealous! No bus system in a town where an 8-year-old could ride her bike from one edge to another in about 20 minutes tops.
Is the Ehrenreich book any good? Based on the subtitle, I'm prepared to love it ...
Ah, Becki, too true! StarTran does offer a biking alternative. McKibbin made the same point since he grew up in a small town without a bus system.
Your postcard from Spain landed in my mailbox Saturday. I got all weepy with how much I admire you.
I just picked up the Ehrenreich text and have only just started it. I'm prepared to love Ehrenreich's work as well, but, I have a Calc exam this week which has elbows out my nightly reading.
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