Pathway

There are some interesting places here in Monroe that, after living here for a year and in the area for the past 4, I have yet to discover.   Bike and walking paths crisscross the city and connect it with many of the other towns in the area.   With the grid system that the roads have, it's neat to see a winding path playing a bit of havoc with the cartography.   Splitting the town essentially in half is a railroad moving east to west that, at one point, carried supplies to the young farmers and homesteaders from the big cities of Milwaukee and Chicago all throughout the southern landscape of Wisconsin.   Brodhead, New Glarus, and Monroe boast renovated train depots that once bustled with businessmen, families, and store owners eagerly awaiting their goods, services, and other family members.  

When I see photos of railroads, I try to think back about what was there when it first was constructed.   Mostly, they winded their way through empty farmland or sleepy little stopovers for water, mail, or food.   Here, I'd like to think that Monroe was a destination point, a growing city that welcomed its visitors and future residents with open arms.   My other thought is what lays beyond the horizon, where the railway continues around a bend or beyond the line of sight.   It must be what those first settlers and homesteaders thought too when they first boarded the train and looked down the rails at the pathway they had yet to travel.