TIME FOR THE FAMILY
2016
At 5.57 I turn off the alarm on my phone before it goes off.
At 6.00 I get into my dressing gown, put the coffee on and slide a slice of toast in the toaster. Then upstairs to the toilet, to get washed; back down to get dressed and put the bed away. Off to the kitchen; the toast will have just popped. By the time it is spread with butter and marmalade, the coffee will be bubbling.
At 6.15 I will be sitting or, more accurately, lying on the couch, my coffee balanced besides me, my fingers flicking through facebook.
At 6.25 I put the coffee cup away, check my bag, put my shoes on, my coat on.
At 6.33 I leave the house, get into the car and drive to the station. I arrive at 6.38 and park just by the train information display so I can see if the train is delayed.
At 6.44 I get out the car, pick up a copy of the metro and walk up and down the platform.
At 6.47 I stand just besides the pillar, just up from the woman who stands by the other pillar and some way away from the others who stand at the far end of the platform. Just after Dalmuir, when I am getting anxious about my ticket, the conductor arrives.
At 7.18 we arrive at Hyndland and at 7.22 the train to Motherwell arrives. I will have been standing just up from the coffee smell of the wee café and usually find a seat on what is a crowded train.
At 7.28 I arrive at Central.
At 7.30 I reach the ticket office. If it is the woman there; when she sees me, she will type in the destination without asking me and I will smile when I pay. The train is nearly always in, so I get on and hope for the seats that cannot be reserved.
By 8.20 it will just be getting light and I will send my first text of the day, thinking it is much harder to be romantic on a train, squeezed against someone who has joined us at the last station.
At 8.45 we stop in a queue, usually outside Tynecastle High School.
At 8.50 we arrive at Haymarket. Everyone is in a hurry to get up the escalator.
I arrive at the office by 8.55; fumbling for my pass. I climb the staircases with the notice that says I will climb three Munros a year if I use them every day. When I walk into the office the desks will all be crowded; everyone will say “Hello!” as I walk past them.
By 9.03 I will have unlocked the cupboard, put the lap top into its docking station and typed in the three pass words.
Sometime between then and 11.00 you will reply to my text.
At 17.16 I will get on the Cross Country to Glasgow, which is always crowded, I will text you and read my book.
We arrive at 18.15. I will walk to the lower level. I will wait four minutes for the train to Dalmuir, get off at Partick. I will have a twenty minute wait here so I will do my work e.mails while I wait for the Helensburgh train.
At 19.25 I will arrive in Cardross and am home by 19.30.
When I walk through the doors, I will see you all for the first time that day. I will cuddle the wee ones; give you a hug and a kiss and they will protest about going to bed but by 20.00 they will be upstairs.
By 22.00 I will be thinking it is time to stop snuggling you on the couch.
By 22.30 we go up to bed where I get washed and slip into bed naked to cuddle up.
At 10.50 I get in my dressing gown and go downstairs.
By 11.00 I will have made my bed and will be contemplating switching the light off.
Around 3.00 I will wake and fall asleep after a while.
Around 5.00 I will get up for a wee and listen to the radio, back in my bed.
At 5.57 I will switch off my alarm.
When I get on the train I will be thinking again of when I get back at 19.30
And take my shoes off in a tired fluster, looking forward to that first kiss of the evening and the daily half hour drama of the children.
(Photo : Helensburgh to Edinburgh Railway Line. July 2021)
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