The sky is so unsettled
Contrails cross into a flying X
Wavy clouds make me wonder
What have they been smoking?
Maybe my wrinkled eyes are playing tricks
My camera plays witness for the verdict
The clouds were high in the sky
Booms lowered
Oh! Stopped in my tracks
Orders of red lights flashing
Now the bells are ringing
Did I mention how I sat and waited?
Only fifteen passengers zipped by
Gosh! Those three train cars
Go upwards of 450 passengers, not mph
Like I could almost feel
Every dollar burning in my hand
Off Center & Not Even 
Fun acrostic and photos! That is a crazy X marks the spot photo
It was amazing how the contrails stayed intact while the wind blew streams of of them. Thanks, JYP.
I’ve never seen anything like that flying X! (Or the next cloudscape either, for that matter.)
I hadn’t either. Makes you wonder what they were smoking. Thanks, Liz.
You’re welcome, Tim.
Flying X marks the spot… but to what?
Love your acrostic, too. At least it wasn’t a 100+ car train!
Thanks, Dale. That’s why it’s a flying X. The long freight trains are fun to watch. And since they are private and profitable, I don’t feel that burning sensation like I do with the Rail Runner which costs us taxpayers $20 million a year to operate.
Indeed!
I used to live beside a train track. Only freighters (or rather, extremely rarely were there passenger trains). The whole house shook and every 3-4 months, I had to push back the glasses in the china cabinet as they would start to rattle against the window.
As for the Rail Runner – ouch!
We had an aunt in Kansas who lived along the tracks. When I was a kid, it was so much fun to be lying in bed and be shaken up every time a train passed by whenever we visited her. I don’t think I would enjoy it much today. We do hear the clickety-clack of the Rail Runner from our house. What a pain for you keeping everything in place.
When you live by the tracks, you no longer notice the train (till the glasses remind you!) It was always so funny when guests would come over and stop what they were saying or doing with a “What was that?” Almost in a panic. We’d crack up.
Love trains and those ribbon clouds in the blue sky.
Thanks, Holly.
Wow that’s surreal Tim. The sky lines up and the train is wildly wonderful! 💞
Today’s post is brought to us by the letter X.
¡Sí! ¡Sólo una X! The clouds were a little out of it. They couldn’t get it together for Dos XX on Cinco de Mayo. Thanks, Brad.
I’ve never seen anything like those wavy clouds. High winds can do some crazy things. I’m glad you captured a shot.
Thanks, Rebecca.
I often sit out in the clear nights and guess where the planes are headed—Denver? Dallas? Kansas City? St. Louis? Hundreds of people flying – all rushing somewhere. I’d much rather take the train. That’s where the real people are.
Thanks, klh048. I see we are neighbors of sorts. So many of those jets streaking over head are Fedex, UPS, DHL, etc. Moving our packages from place to place.
Lots of Criss- crosses in the sky Tim… And X definitely marks the spot! :-D…
Braided train!!!!! [I learned a new word today.. Boondoggle!]
Beautiful entanglements… words, clouds and trains!
Our governments are involved with lots of boondoggles. It’s a great word. Thanks, Marina.
A ha ha haaa…. they are indeed! And I loved the word!
Hi Timothy, I love the flying X. Both poems are great, I especially liked the last one with the three car train and only 15 passengers.
Thanks, Roberta. Not a lot of people on those trains.
X – cellent!
The train shot is cool. Is that taken on live photo?
Tim, I grabbed some motorcycle pics to put in a slide show in my upcoming post.
Is this okay? xo
The train is an animated gif from 8 stills. You can take whatever you need. Thanks, Resa.
Yay! Thank you, Tim!xx
Denver has a light rail system. Judging by the morning and evening rush, most continue to travel the old-fashioned way … on the I. There are a few spots where you have to travel on the rail. Streets are too narrow to drive, no parking anywhere, permits for residents only in those sections.
Thanks, Deborah. Denver has 900K more people than the state of New Mexico, and 2 million more than Albuquerque so it makes more sense for Denver to have a light rail system. However, rail systems that move people never pay for themselves. When we lived in Spain, I worked with employees who worked for the Madrid Metro system, and the national rail system. The Metro and trains had huge ridership, but both systems still had to be heavily subsidized.
Light rail in Denver has three lines, from the Tech Center to downtown, Broadway to downtown, downtown to the airport. It was envisioned to have lines from the suburbs to downtown, eventually replacing the bus system. It was going back in time, when Denver had the electric trolley system before buses. The most reliable ridership on the rail are the street gangs, and of course makes it magnet for violent crime. The rail is gun-free, so I wouldn’t be able to conceal carry for protection.
If I had get across the Metro Area, from University Hospital to Golden, it would take me about an hour in heavy traffic on I-70. Middle of the night, I can drive the distance in about 40 minutes. If the rail system was complete, it would take close to an hour twenty to go across town. I don’t see the time savings.
The Rail Runner is much slower than driving and doesn’t necessarily get you very close to your destination. Bus service is poor in Albuquerque and Santa Fe and pretty much nonexistent from other stops along the 97 miles the Rail Runner covers. I’m pretty sure the Rail Runner is a weapons-free zone. I know the city busses are. Criminals love gun-free zones because law-abiding people respect them.
I have never ridden the Rail Runner and don’t plan to ever ride it. I got my fill of riding trains in Spain.
A perfect X-cloud, Tim! Dissipating contrails form some interesting shapes. I once saw a $ in the southern sky here. I did not get a good photo of it.
Most of the rail traffic here in my area is comprised of cars carrying logs or finished lumber.
Trains hauling logs and freight make more sense because the trains can haul a lot of weight making them efficient and profitable. People are light cargo so it is not very efficient and expensive to move people by rail. Thanks, Lavina.
The mills and lumberyards are connected by rail. This a large timber growing and processing area. I think around Halloween they have train rides using cars with hay bales for seats for the public. I am not sure it is every year, but I have seen them some years moving slowly on the tracks along Route 20.
They do hay rides on wagons pulled by trackers and horses during festivals.
Oh, boy, I spent some time Pareidoliaising… especially withthe first one, Tim.
Thanks, Inchie.
X marks the spot.. not sure what the spot is, but it is marked, that’s for damn sure!
It was flying high. Thanks, Brian.
Love the moving video – such a clever idea to position the camera in one spot with the subject changing rather than the camera’s position 🙏
It’s an 8 shot gif. Thenks Courts.
Sky is beautifull. Here is rain by days
Send me seom of your rain, please. Thanks, Melli.