WanderingWilbo: From Muskegon to Southfield, on the first of two Greyhound buses to cross Michigan west to east between those two cities, Saturday, February 23rd, 2013.

Somewhere between Lowell and Ionia, on one of two Greyhounds crossing the state of Michigan today from west to southwest.

On Sat, Feb 23, 2013 at 8:02 AM, Wandering Wilbo wrote:

It is hazy this morning and the fields are a plentiful harvest of snow to be collected, turned into water by sun and rising temperatures. Wood lots alternate with fields and I can see hints of budding at the tips of uprising branches. The white of the snow fields and the grey of the woodlots seen through the haze make me think of a series of prints composed by Dellas Henke. I can still feel my eyes droop, asking for. Sleep.

http://dellashenke.com/

Leaving East Lansing in a light snow

On Sat, Feb 23, 2013 at 9:36 AM, Wandering Wilbo wrote:

A woman boarded in Grand Rapids and she is sleeping on her two seats. The capacity of this bus is written outside the door, on the aluminum side. The number reads 57 but comfort says 28, and we are well below the count of 28. We number twenty, so every body gets two seats. She has covered herself entirely with a fleece blanket decorated with leopard spots.

We have a driver who had not announced time to departure at Grand Rapids and Lansing. I wasn't going to allow that lack of information cramp my style, so I deboarded and asked a lined up customer in Grand Rapids and a lined up customer in Lansing for their expected departure time. "It might be an odd question to ask since I got off that bus. But when are you expecting that bus to leave? The passengers mostly stayed on the bus in their seats for the fifteen minutes at the two stops. The awaiting passengers stood in line until the bus driver took tickets and permitted boarding, a wait of at least fifteen minutes in line. I walked around the terminal, keeping the bus in sight.

In Lansing, I was reposing myself on the nice green benches inside the Capitol Area Transport Authority terminal, and the driver inquired of me in his loud and authoritative voice. "Are you boarding the bus, sir?"

"Yes, I am". I answered and boarded. Staring out the terminal windows, I had drifted off into a reverie, considering living in Lansing where the bus goes places.

We are now at the Jackson Exit for the Michigan State Prison. The haze of snow has been left behind and I see a partly cloudy sky with a few fields of blue visible. The sunlight on the trees, although faint, has made the trees and brush less abstract. We are passing through a Jackson neighborhood.

Departing Jackson, the sun has blazed through the clouds.

On Sat, Feb 23, 2013 at 10:16 AM, Wandering Wilbo wrote:

I imagine I am picking up Vitamin D from that blast of sun. As I say that, a small blob of grey cloud obscures the blaze. I experience disappointment for I was feeling and enjoying its warmth. And so it goes, blaze then obscuring blob then blaze.

I am mildly annoyed that we were at the downtown Jackson bus system for almost ten minutes while some riders got tickets made. A short walk from that station, The Jackson Coffee Company awaited my order for a hot serving of coffee, and I knew I risked being abandoned in Downtown Jackson as my computer and coat rolled on without me, my baggage stowed in the final row of seats before the restroom closet. We are on our way to Ann Arbor.

I am enjoying sun that has had its blaze diminished by a thin, filtering cloud. Sun finding an open sky, I feel the sun's blaze.

Why does Greyhound never stop at rest stops or truck stops, the way Megabus does at least every four hours? Half the fun of this execrable mode of travel is chatting with random people during bus stops.

Midway between Ann Arbor and Southfield, I pass through an area where I used to live.

On Sat, Feb 23, 2013 at 11:06 AM, Wandering Wilbo wrote:

I think we just passed over Beck Road, which goes north to Maybury State Park. I had a good job when I lived around the Novi Northville Plymouth corridor off 275. It had regular hours, low demands and good pay. The only hard part of the job was the early morning drive to work. It was adventuresome driving inward to work on snow covered roads in winter. In summer, far too tempting to find a beautiful spot to sip a coffee outdoors. I see a building getting a renovation that I saw built in 1992. Two decades have passed, and I am given an example of passing time to ponder. My stop is Southfield and I have to check the time. I am certain we are ahead of schedule. I can see the disk of our sun above the clouds as it passes from grey blob to blaze through a gauze.

I almost offend the staff of Athena's Gardens by eating so fast and paying so quickly.

On Sat, Feb 23, 2013 at 12:36 PM, Wandering Wilbo wrote:

I had a choice to take a Greyhound from a station at Eleven and Lahser in Southfield to the Pontiac Transportation Center. It left at 12:25 PM if on schedule and cost eighteen dollars. The 275 SMART bus at the northeast corner had a scheduled pickup at 12:02 PM, if running on schedule, and only cost two dollars plus a quarter for a transfer. So I went for that, and stayed standing by the bus sign until it until 12:12 PM for it ran ten minutes late.

I had remembered a Jewish Deli in a strip mall on the northeast corner, and it was still occupying a space. However, contrary to posted hours, the glass door was locked and the lights were off inside and the space had no people inside. I had to really wonder about that. Saturday is a good day to be serving corned beef sandwiches on rye.

Athena's Garden had a wide open door, and I had hoped to order bacon and eggs. Menu didn't show any breakfast items, so I settled on two chili dogs. I had to catch a bus, so I insisted on paying right away.

People who love their Greyhound Bus Lines really love their Greyhound:

http://www.greyhound.com/

Image by Fidencio Duran for the Greyhound Community Reflections Mural Program