Commuting with Nature Archives - Life Outtacontext
The personal website of artist and writer Jeff Gates
art, politics, graphic design, writer, storyteller, photo illustrator, "Washington, DC"
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Commuting with Nature, Fairly Odd Parents-Present / 21.10.2015

I forgot to take a picture of my foot stuck in the Metro escalator. So, like all good crime stories, I have recreated the scene. X marks the spot.[/caption] As I arrived at the surface from my subway commute, suddenly, a short, old woman, dressed in a mid February coat, crossed my path. "Pfeh," she said in her Slavic-sounding accent, "to you and your descendants!" I ignored her. But I had been cursed. And I hadn't even reached my cubicle yet. Strange things began to happen; sudden and unexplained mishaps started affecting every project I was working on...

Artistic Tendencies, Commuting with Nature, Fairly Odd Parents-Present / 15.09.2015

This morning, as I was walking towards the subway entrance I saw a young mother with her two daughters running to catch the No. 8 bus. It pulled away without them but as it came closer to me I motioned there were people running to catch that bus. I kept pointing over and over with an exaggerated movement between the family and the bus, hoping to catch the driver's attention. I've done this before but the driver didn't see me. Or, he just didn't care. This driver stopped. With a twist of my...

Commuting with Nature, Fairly Odd Parents-Present / 22.06.2015

Chapter One: An Interaction With a Teenager Earlier this morning I dropped my younger daughter off at school to take the ACT test. As we got into the car she immediately turned the radio to her favorite station. Mumford & Sons' Believe was playing. Now, trying to connect with my 17 year old is always an iffy thing. Will I get merely grunts and groans to anything I say or a brisk reaction meant to shut down any conversation? I never know. The terrain is a minefield. Yet, I choose to traverse it every day in hopes I will have some...

Commuting with Nature / 24.09.2013

  I had a wonderful commute on the DC Metro this morning. A few stops into my ride a group of teenagers boarded the already crowded car. Listening to them speak German, I discovered they were from Austria (picking up the word "Österreich" in their chatter numerous times). I took German in college. While I'm not fluent in any language other than English and Pig Latin, I can often know a phrase and can say it with such a good accent that people think I'm fluent. This is often problematic when they start talking with me and I have to admit...

Commuting with Nature, Fairly Odd Parents-Present / 02.06.2010

This is Glenda. The morning commute was ending like all weekday commutes. As I shoved my way to the surface it was time to start thinking about work: the fires I needed to put out or needed to start. I didn't look forward to either, quite frankly. I'm a risk taker but lately it's been in remission. "If I can just get through the day without making waves," I thought, "my day will be a success." (And it was only Wednesday.) I looked around at my fellow commuters climbing the stairs to the top, I mean the street. What were they...

Commuting with Nature / 12.01.2010

Twitter allows you to send missives to your followers in 140 character bursts. For a storyteller these are often exercises in learning to be economical with one's words with the greatest amount of impact. Today I tried but a story unfolded in the subway that begged for just a little bit more. This required three successive tweets. Sometimes a tale demands just a little bit more. Here is my 376 character Twitter trilogy. Mr OCD's on subway. How do I know? He told me last time. He's nice & strikes up chat w/ everyone. He's talking 2 lady next 2...

Artistic Tendencies, Commuting with Nature / 04.10.2009

When I was in San Francisco last week for meetings I stayed with good friends in Noe Valley. Being a seasoned commuter I left the house each morning precisely at 7:55 and walked down to Market Street to catch the MUNI downtown. My Bay Area mornings were like every workday morning for me --a walk and then a hop onto mass transit. And when I got onto my train I appeared to do what every San Franciscan did. I pretended to be in my own little world (as I pretend to do every morning on my commute from the Maryland...

Artistic Tendencies, Commuting with Nature / 09.08.2009

My fellow commuter. Click on image for a larger view. It had been a long week. I'd just completed two days of teaching teachers how to podcast: a rewarding activity that reminded me of my years in the classroom. But teachers know teaching is exhausting. And teaching technology is even more so. You closely examine your students' faces, ferreting out those who get it and those who are lost. To bridge those techno-fears I succumb to using humor to push on through. By the end of the session I surveyed the room, happy to see their relaxed faces. But I had...

Commuting with Nature, Fairly Odd Parents-Present / 25.01.2009

Caffeine, you were my friend. I started my day with you and recently began seeing you on an ongoing basis in the late afternoon. When I realized you had no effect on my regular bedtime I relied on you to give me that extra push from my day job to my evening job as a dad and husband. Suddenly I had energy to do the dishes without being asked and to cheerfully help my girls with their homework. But no more. From now on I will do my evening work without your help. I've learned my lesson. Last Wednesday, as...

Commuting with Nature / 11.01.2009

Rush Hour on the DC Metro. Photo by andrew.deci via Flickr. When you commute five days a week on public transportation you start to see the same people standing in the same places everyday. I've always marveled at how our clocks are in sync. Do each of these people get up at 5:30 a.m. like I do, eat breakfast while reading the paper, then go shower and dress for work, all at the same moment? So it wasn't surprising when I saw that tall man, in his late 50s, wearing his wide-brimmed leather hat and trench coat on the subway platform....