Evening

I really like riding the bus at night-time. I start out in the early evening, around 7. The bus is fuller then. Invariably I sit towards the back. There's not much but black outside. We ride under a streetlight, it only illuminates the dirt on the window. When I do catch sight of a sign or a building, it seems foreign, and there's a moment of terror before I remember where I am. The world collapses down to just the bus, me and the people on it. They're never only college students, always some local transients mixed in. People do homework, sleep, talk, laugh. I turn my iPod up and listen to something slow and sad. Most people get off the bus before me, and then I go to class.

After class, it's much later. 9:30. Tonight I walked all the way through Northampton because it was nice out and I needed the walk. I got on the bus on the other side of town, by Sheldon Field. It was fuller than I expected, and I sat towards the front. At the front of the bus, you can see the outside world because of the headlights. I'd walked for half an hour; I was in touch with that world. Snow covered fields, barns, houses. Everything is familiar and beautiful. I thank the driver when I get off, walk home across the ice.