Seattle… Interstate 5… Rush Hour… Brake Lights…
‘Rainy days and Mondays always get me down,’ a line from the Carpenter’s 1971 hit song, speaks to me on certain days. This shot was taken just above the intersection of Interstate 90 and Interstate 5 as rush hour traffic is just beginning to build in downtown Seattle at about 05:50, it gets worse, much worse. Most of the time, rainy days and Mondays don’t get me down, but Mondays especially after a long holiday weekend I must confess to a bit of wishful thinking, how nice it would be to be a stay at home wife. As a stay at home wife, I could have an extra cup or two of hot coffee, and cook breakfast for my husband, or make scones on a Monday instead of a Sunday! I could blog and visit my cyber friends in far flung places to see what is transpiring in their neck of the woods. I could walk Lucy in the daylight instead of the dark.
I wouldn’t miss the layers of clothes to keep the cold damp of Seattle weather out of my bones, the long sleeves, camisole, knee high socks and down vest, oh and let’s not forget a rain coat! I wouldn’t miss pre-tripping a forty foot school bus in the dark, in the rain, so cold inside that it takes a quarter hour for the heaters to begin pumping out warm air. I wouldn’t miss the blast of cold air every time I load students. I wouldn’t miss the brake lights, the traffic congestion, the motoring public who ignore the safety of students when they break the law and run through my stop paddle or cut me off to make sure they’re not stuck behind a school bus.
But I would miss my friends, fellow bus drivers, and my students (all 200 or so of them!) and how they brighten and keep my days interesting. Ah well, wishful thinking… it’s Monday, off to work, may I bless and brighten the day of someone else! :-)
PS… No I was not driving and shooting! I was standing on an overpass on my own two feet! :-)
oh my, you drive a bus in all that traffic? on the interstate? hope not. i wanted to be a stay at home wife all my life, and was able to retire at age 62, now I am 67 and have loved every single moment of staying home. so there is hope out there. you are doing a wonderful job, it takes special people to drive school buses, with all those children.
Yes, I drive on the Interstate with highschool and middleschool students every day, twice in the mornings…
it’s so hard getting back in the groove of things after a long break isn’t it? i was a sahm for 15 years till my youngest (the twins) started school. now i’ve been working pt at my daughter’s high school…i don’t leave till all the kids go to school and am home before all of them, but at times i miss my old stay at home days…then at the same time i know it would get old being home all alone…what i really miss i guess is when all my babies were younger! ahhh, back to school, blah! hope you have a great day :)
I thought bus driving would be perfect, but we start before them and quit after they’re home…
You voluntarily drive in that traffic? I lived in Pierce County for 12 years and rarely made it anywhere north b/c of the traffic and nonstop road construction. Seattle streets confound me….I never did find Kerry Park.
All the time, for work and pleasure! I can explain how to find it… once you’ve been there you’ll always find it again!
Looking at this…..
Well, I think our Motorway is just a country lane :)
Gosh, you are brave!
Sometimes I wish ours was… ;-)
i do not miss the commute into Dallas to work. yucko…
i tried to comment on your mallard post but could not get it to load yesterday. he was really beautiful!
I’ll bet you don’t!! Sorry, I found out that the server in Utah had problems!
You do have traffic to deal with…hope for safety
Daily… and school bus drivers have to deal with foolish motorists that break the law and jeopardize students’ safety…
I have gone through that rush hour….I don’t envy you. Vancouver BC is almost as bad…. I have always worked, no time off ….for more than 35 years… stay at home? would have been nice!
I’ve driven up in Vancouver a number of times… but only once in a bus, well sort of to get on the ferry to Tsawwassen to get to Victoria taking a highschool band to the parade… that was fun!
Your picture epitomizes why I like living where I do Madge! As to work, well, I’m happily retired.
I hope to join the ranks of retired in two years…!
So glad I don’t have to deal with that anymore. Great picture!!!!
I’m hoping in two years I won’t have to either!
Cool shot and I could sing the Carpenter’s Rainy Days and Mondays by heart! Margie
It was one of my favorites too… guess we’re dating ourselves… lol!!
Oh my! That reminds me of my days in the Bay Area commute traffic. No fun at all. But a very good photo!
No.. no fun… makes me wish I lived in eastern WA most of the time!
Makes me realize I’m a small town gal! Would love to have seen the exact point where you were to take the photo……. second thought, maybe not!
Come on along… I’ll show you! ;-)
You didn’t take this photo while… you know. :)
Staying at home has its perks, but I do miss my office friends now and again.
No, I didn’t… you know! Lol! I was standing on an overpass on my own two feet!
Good gosh! And you can drive a bus in that? You are my hero.
Oh, yes… I’ve done that many times… in downtown traffic on city streets too…
I do not miss this since moving from Phoenix.
I’m hoping to retire in a rural area OUT of Seattle (much as I love this town)!
Very nice lines in this urban shot. You may have to battle the traffic, but at least when your working day is done, you have the beautiful city of Seattle outside your door. I loved my few days there this year!
Thanks, Andrew… so glad you enjoyed your visit here in Seattle!
I see an Atlas Van Lines truck in the mess… My dad just retired from there, he owned an Atlas agency here in southeast Missouri. =)
Yes, I noticed that too…. how interesting that you have such a close connection… congratulations to your dad!
YIKES : ) Not sure I could handle traffic like that : ) But you got a great photo of it!