da bus

i ride the bus these days. and on the bus i see community. at 7:29 am i board, and things are still mellow on the bus. a few stops later a man boards, he has a raspy voice from too many years of hard living i tell myself. he is joyful and loves to talk. He told everyone a few days ago about loosing a ton of weight and how he is keeping it off. I admire him for that, and I love that he carries a miniature "gallon" jug of OJ with him each day. a few stops later a lady boards, she notes that "anna" is missing today. anna is a ring leader in this community. she is joyful, warm, open. i have only seen her once, but she got in my head. i know i will see her again…i am new to this community, a temporary observer, she is a charter member. a stop later a man enters carrying two coolers. he bellows a "good morning!" to all. he smiles. this man is great. he sells burritos and tacos from his coolers to those around him. i still don't know what he does with them after the bus,,,but the others do and they love getting the bus discount on his delicious food. he is filled with life and energy. he is older, from mexico maybe, short and graying. he has a booming voice, that carries through the bus in the best ways. i imagine that he sings and dances, he moves that way. I hope he has happiness off the bus too. yesterday the most vivacious of the crew were missing, as was the community. anna and the burrito man bring people together on the bus. they get people talking, sharing, opening to one another. this is rare, rare anywhere and especially on a public bus. it is great. i have something to learn by watching these people. this morning i sat closer to the community of riders, among them even. one of the members sat next to me and i watched, listened through my ipod tunes to their conversations, and felt overjoyed to be riding the bus.