The days continue to run together. The shifts are long but pass quickly. When a day off comes around, I’m often too tired to do anything productive. The common cold has been passed around the train kids and I’ve caught this. It has lingered for a couple weeks.

My shifts are anywhere from 10-16 hours. Usually the latter. I’m on my feet serving the entire time, sans a short lunch break (which I sometimes miss). The train is in motion when I’m walking down the aisle with a tray, serving drinks. I’m utilizing muscles to stay upright and not fall. Muscles that I haven’t used in a while. I definitely am gaining muscle and have lost weight. But the shifts leave me with pain.

Pain is a part of my life. Has been for years, as I have various autoimmune disorders. Rheumatoid arthritis was the first to cause me pain. It’s hard for me to distinguish between what’s a normal amount of pain for the job versus my disability. My last two shifts left me with such bad back pain that I was angry. I brought my heating pad and slept with it. Not heeding the warning listed on the pad to not sleep with it. Lol This definitely helped.

Yesterday was a day off and I felt better than I have in a while. Today I’m heading up to Denali on a bus and my back is a bit sore. I’m fighting the anger again.

I turn my thoughts to my last train shift on Sunday, which was from Denali south to Whittier. This is known as the southbound DEX. These are the best trips because the guests are headed to their cruise. They’re excited and keep me busy fixing cocktails.

I was serving Bloody Mary’s and had to take a couple drinks downstairs to the dining area. To get downstairs, I have to balance the tray of drinks and descend the narrow, spiral staircase from the upstairs dome to the downstairs. As I got to the landing, I turned to walk down the aisle. I was walking quickly, full stride, and failed to see that a drawer from under one of the seats had opened. I hit the metal of the drawer full-on with my shin, stopping my forward progress.

I did not fall.

I did not spill the drink.

After my guests made sure I was ok, they were impressed. Some laughed that I didn’t spill the drink. No alcohol lost here!

I was sure I was going to have a gash when I looked, but I didn’t. Just the beginning of a good bruise and some scraped skin.

Reminiscing about this makes me smile. Perhaps pain gives you strength that others don’t have. A grit. A determination. It’s needed for a normal day. To get up and assess what hurts. Push through and do what needs to be done for the day and to do it with a smile.

We’re an hour outside of Anchorage when the bus stops for lunch. I’m feeling a little less pain and my attitude is improved after some food.

Still five hours to go on our bus journey. The bus offers different scenery than the train. My eyes never grow tired of the layers of green along the journey. My body is thankful for the rest.

Life is good.