I have taken on a high school route as part of my school bus career. Gone are the days of driving a different route and seeing and hearing from different children. I have no stories to tell because when you drive a high school route in the mornings, everyone is silently sleeping. It can be the same in the afternoon, when most people are asleep on my long route home.
Not much to say about sleeping teens, but there is a lot to see along my route, which makes me appreciate it all the more each day.
I start my route painfully early. For most of the winter, my entire morning run is in the dark. Kids in black pants with a forest green sweater are impossible to see when I am driving. Somehow, I can discern a shadow moving, and I know someone is there to pick up. Each morning, I drive the same dark route, seeing nothing but the blackness of winter mornings. It is only when I am near the school that the sun begins to rise, and I can start to see things clearly.
But now spring is coming, and with spring, the sun rises earlier each day.
On a particular day when it snowed, I witnessed the most amazing sunrise. My route has a spot where people come to see the sunrise over the city. At this location along my route, there is a view of the world’s largest concentration of Canadians. It is a phenomenal view. If I time my arrival right, I can see the CN Tower being backlit with the rising sun.
But this day was different. There was a foggy mist in the air, and it was freezing on the trees. The sun was trying so hard to rise over the horizon, and the colours it was producing were what has been described to me as cotton candy-coloured. The light blue and pink of this sugary treat filled the sky, and because of the fresh snow and ice building up on the trees, the snow reflected the beautiful colours. It was like I was driving through Candyland.
Sadly, it is frowned upon to take pictures while driving, especially when driving a school bus, so I have only my memories of this optical display of nature’s glory.
I do appreciate being a bus driver at times, especially in unexpected moments like these.
