engineer, riding high in the
front. She wondered if he
liked his uniform and his
engineer's cap. Maybe he
wanted to wear a cowboy
hate or a suit. with tails
and a top hat.
She didn't know his name .."
One girl, one train, one engineer. Two passes every day ... one from the east, and one from the west. The girl and the engineer do not know each other. They have one thing in common. Each time the train passes, the girl waves to the engineer and the engineer waves back.
She lives in a house at the edge of town, with her family, their cat and their cows on patchwork fields, and close to the railroad tracks. The connection that she makes with the engineer has her imagining what his life might be like, as he probably wonders about hers. They will never meet. What she does not consider is not seeing him again. Then, one day she watches as something sails from the engineer's window and lands in a nearby field. It is a parting gift.
As she searches for what was thrown, she recognizes that there is much to appreciate about where she lives.
" ... she found wild strawberries, hidden and sweet,
and wildflowers along the tracks.
She picked some and lay in the warm-smelling prairie grass,
looked up at the sky,
listened to the songs of the grasshopper's chirps,
and felt the whoosh of the wind."
Finding the engineer's cap brings a smile. It almost fits. She is not so interested in the next engineer, finding other ways to spend her time as she grows and finally leaves home for the east and a new life.
The artwork is done using gouache, oil pastels and colored pencils and reveals a country setting that is pastoral and quiet. The variety in perspective, and the changing seasons bring attention to the inevitable growth that is part of life. The lyrical text is as gentle and peaceful as her surroundings, even as she moves on to a life of her own.
Told with warmth and grace, it will last long in your memory.
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