# "If you've never stared off into the distance, then, your life is a shame..." - Counting Crows
On a morning, as I make my way to work, I journey over the bus and rail bridges that cross the River Tyne between Newcastle and Gateshead - apart from getting a lot more reading done using public transport than if I drove to work, the other curious thing I've like to note as I make the crossing is that most people look to the east, where the majestic Tyne Bridge and Sage Music Centre fill the vista. It seems to be an unconscious reaction (for myself included), but increasingly, with each new day, I've been more interested in looking west, to the empty horizon of the hills and Tyne Valley which stretch out for miles (and where the old Rocket still stands resolute and defiant, resisting the changes of the modern world around it)...
On a morning, as I make my way to work, I journey over the bus and rail bridges that cross the River Tyne between Newcastle and Gateshead - apart from getting a lot more reading done using public transport than if I drove to work, the other curious thing I've like to note as I make the crossing is that most people look to the east, where the majestic Tyne Bridge and Sage Music Centre fill the vista. It seems to be an unconscious reaction (for myself included), but increasingly, with each new day, I've been more interested in looking west, to the empty horizon of the hills and Tyne Valley which stretch out for miles (and where the old Rocket still stands resolute and defiant, resisting the changes of the modern world around it)...