Tuesday, December 20, 2011

'Twas the Blog Post Before Christmas


'Twas the blog post before Christmas, and all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, just one cordless mouse,
The train books were stacked on the night table with care,
In hopes I would find them when I needed them, there,
Timetables and magazines were stacked by the bed,
While visions of new posts danced in my head.

My wife sighed loudly, hit her forehead with a slap,
"I'm tired of hearing about all your train crap!"
When out on the Kingston Sub arose such a clatter,
I figured a CN freight might be a-splatter,
Away to the scanner I flew like a flash,
Turned up the volume, to hear RTC teeth gnash,

The crack of slack action over new-fallen snow,
Gave the sound of derailment, but thank goodness, no,
Up the grade towards Belleville, I heard the train disappear,
I resumed talking 'blog' (blah-blah-blah, to my dear)
More creative and inspired, my thoughts again came,
As I remembered my blog partners, and called them by name:

Now Steven, now Adam, Chris, Dave, Scott and John,
Second Chris, third Chris, Matt, Robert and Jas-on,
You share such neat stuff, each blog a different creature,
A definite highlight for my sidebar to feature,

As thoughts in one ear, and out the other ear fly,
I thought of more posts as I scanned the night sky,
On CN! on CP! VIA yellow and blue!
Rolling stock, railfan adventures, and train-riding too,
My imagination throttled up, new ideas reached the roof,
My wife simply said, "Turn the light off, you goof!"

I had one last thought, which I want you to know:
From west coast to east coast, and also my bro',
You speak not a word, but go straight to your work,
Filling readers with thoughts, as they comment or lurk,
You've left us with gifts, they're true Trackside Treasure,
    You photograph and write, with aplomb beyond measure,

(As I heard a train coming, 'twas a P42 whistle
 I knew it was time to end this epistle)
A toast to your efforts, with coffee, pop or beer,
Thanks for making 2011 a congenial year!
To all of you I say, as I call it a night,
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good write!

--Home for Christmas--
Meeting ONR No 121  Eng 1803 at South River, Ontario in 1994 (above)

18 comments:

Ian Lisakowski said...

What a great post Eric!

May Santa leave some obscure VIA papers under your tree this year.

All the best for the Holidays.

Eric said...

Ian, Merry Christmas to you in 'Winterpeg' - it looks like it's going to be a mostly green Christmas here.

I appreciate your comments and holiday wishes - stay tuned to Trackside Treasure for 2012.

Eric

Ian Lisakowski said...

We may get lucky and get a Christmas dusting (my daughter is wishing like mad), but it's not a normal "Winterpeg" Winter this year!!

Ian

Robert in Port Townsend said...

Not too shabby, Eric! Poetry is fun to fiddle around with. Who can remember the "verse by the side of the road" - Burma Shave? Looking forward your future writings.

Robert in Port Townsend.

chris mears said...

Good morning Eric from PEI. I had so much fun reading that post.

I'm reading this at work and almost fell out of my chair when I read: My wife sighed loudly, hit her forehead with a slap,
"I'm tired of hearing about all your train crap!"

That's so funny. It's been a great year and I'm really looking forward to the next one.

From all of us here at Prince Street (GO's completely fictional and furthest east) stop: Merry Christmas!

Eric said...

Thanks Robert, Chris and Ian for those comments.

Don't worry, I ran the verse by my wife before posting. (I know she means it in the kindest possible way)

I don't consider myself much of a poet, in fact if I am one, I didn't know it. I come up with an occasional rhyme, but only in my spare time. Unfortunately, I still haven't found anything that rhymes with....F-unit.

I'm currently working on a post on Bad Order cars, but I don't really want to use B.O. in the title.

Merry Christmas to all of you, and stay tuned for more Trackside Treasure in 2012!
Eric

Canadian Train Geek said...

Great poem!!

I too loved "I'm tired of hearing about all your train crap!"... so true around my household.

Best wishes to you and yours for the holidays and the new year.

For "F-unit", may I suggest something like "tune it"? :)

Stephen in Summerpeg

Eric said...

Thanks for your kind comments and wishes, Steve.

Of course we know it's not crap :) I mean, this is The Good Stuff. Thanks also for the suggestion.

All the best of the season to you and your family,
Eric in Springston

Unknown said...

Have a happy holiday time. Hm-mm? How many railway related ornaments are around your house at this time of year?

Eric said...

Hi Powmill and Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Let's just say when I was playing some carols on our livingroom piano two nights ago, I could look up and see five 4-4-0 train ornaments in a row on top of the piano. These were formerly on the train tree, but were displaced when my wife converted it into a snowman tree, with 86 ornaments aboard.

Eric

Adam Walker said...

Hi Eric,
Fun poem, thanks for the shout-out!
Merry Christmas to you and yours and thanks for the support this year. Perhaps I'll make it out to Kingston again next year.
Adam
http://walkerweb.ca

Eric said...

Thanks and season's greetings, Adam. It's great to have your coverage of the Toronto-and-east scene on Trackside Treasure. I'll try to post some more Kingston Platform Scenes soon.

Eric

Allison said...

I guess I'm only a Trackside Lurker (!), but I do enjoy an occasional visit to TT!! Thanks for tipping me off to your "''Twas the Blog..." as we gathered last evening for our Gagnonifest, Christmas-Turkey-Edition! It was well worth a stop during my Internet Interlude chez Starbucks.

To your Blogging Buddies I extend words of thanks for encouraging my brother's unique combination of interests and habits..!!!

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
Allison

Eric said...

Thanks for your encouragement, sis. That Starbucks stuff is waaay overpriced though! Remember McDonald's coffee and muffin...only $1.39, and the Gardiner's Road restaurant has a nice view of the Kingston Sub and the top of the Cataraqui Spur!

Eric

Zartok-35 said...

Merry christmas, Mr.Gagnon. Enjoy the holidays!

Zartok-35 said...

Merry Christmas, Mr. Gagnon.

Eric said...

Merry Christmas to you too, Elijah. Good to have you aboard through 2011...stay tuned for more ancient CN motive power in 2012.

With the announcement of Rapido Trains' GMD-1, my interest in this classic Canadian locomotive has been rekindled. Only ten-hundreds though, not the later 1100's and 1400's incarnations.

Eric

Anonymous said...

that christmas poem was funny and great.