艾米丽·阿伯特
Three and a half hours from the Denver metro region – up and over Cameron Pass, but not quite to Walden – the sky opens up to reveal more stars than one could ever imagine seeing. 在几乎没有光污染的新月期间拍摄这张照片, it doesn’t seem hard to imagine how people centuries ago created fantastical stories of heroes or gods.
艾米丽·艾伯特知道这个地方. It is one of many pinned on a 3-foot-by-4-foot map of the state in her living room, alongside all the roads and places she has been to – or wants to visit. The Great Sand Dunes is high on her list: Seven hours of driving would be worth it for three hours of stargazing and astrophotography. “对我来说，”她说，“这是对我时间的完美利用.”
长途驾车是阿博特的第二天性, 谁估计她至少投了35,开着她那辆2006年的白色Mini Cooper一年跑了5000英里, 一些通勤, 大部分都在探索科罗拉多的每一个角落. 在RTD担任巴士操作员五年以上, 主要是熨斗摩天轮和荷兰航线, 雅培公司在8年多的时间里运送了成千上万的客户,2000多趟往返，还有400趟,000多英里的道路. 她爱她的常客, 她说，他们是科罗拉多大学的学生和通勤者, some of whom told Abbott they switched their afternoon schedules to ensure they could catch her bus.
驾驶这些区域路线, 阿伯特说, “我会告诉别人, 那些巴士是世界上最好的角落办公室, because you have the view of the Flatirons coming up over McCaslin and you got a view of downtown Denver as soon as you come onto I-25.” The scenery dropping down into Boulder Valley, she said, “never fails to bring a smile to my face.” Weather, individuals, road conditions and traffic made each trip different.
截至去年, Abbott transitioned into maintenance as a general repair mechanic helper, 检查和修理她曾经驾驶过的车辆. The perspective she brings as a former operator makes her think differently about her work, she said.
“你看看我可能带了多少人, 他们每个人都把生命托付给了我,艾伯特说. “When I was going 65 mph down Highway 36 and pulling into every one of those slip ramps, I was trusting that those brakes were going to stop where I wanted them to.”
她继续说道:“我喜欢了解事物是如何运作的. This is not just a vehicle – having been an operator, I know what’s on this vehicle.”
阿博特可以看到她输入的内容的因果关系, learning about and exploring the systems of which the buses are made. Seeing the relationship between inputs from an operator through all the control modules to various aspects of the buses. Understanding that pushing an accelerator pedal doesn’t just make the bus go faster, but how the control module receives that signal in turn sends out other signals to deliver more fuel. Appreciating that steering the wheel actively affects the suspension, keeping passengers safe as they ride 20-plus tons of metal down the road.
Every inspection builds upon the knowledge she developed working on her own vehicles as a teen, watching and listening to mechanics at shops where she grew up working as a detailer, 在她的一生中. “当你在农村长大, 你在可用的地方工作,艾伯特说, “便宜的是需要稍微修理一下的汽车.”
“人们希望一切顺利，”她补充说. “但要弄清楚并了解它们是如何工作的, 为什么他们会这样工作——这很有趣吗, 这让事情变得有趣.”
艾米丽·格蕾丝·阿博特出生在田纳西州，出生时被指定为男性, lived briefly in Texas as a child and was raised in rural North Carolina, 在一个32英亩的农场. 她回忆起饲养动物, 漫游大地, 生日礼物, 从Blockbuster Video租了一台任天堂64游戏机. “You went outside; you did stuff,”她说。. Abbott grew up appreciating what she had and possessing a strong work ethic and sense of personal responsibility.
从8到10岁开始, 阿博特意识到自己有些不一样了, 虽然她说不出话来. The conservative Christian community in which she was raised “didn’t speak about being trans. 身为同性恋已经够糟糕的了。.
Abbott first thought about leaving town at 16 – and after getting accepted to quite a few schools, 毕业后流浪了一年，进了美国大学.S. 空军18岁. Military service enabled Abbott to grow confidence and fed a love of traveling that began as a teenager, 当她开始自驾游时. 在空军服役时, 阿伯特说, “I thrived in that environment of rigid structure and knowing what the day’s going to hold, 但那一天是怎么过的，我们完全不知道.她补充说，在军队里，“你有点失去了家的感觉。. 但无论你在哪里，你都可以做到.”
Abbott came out as a transgender woman after concluding her military service and moving to Colorado with a desire to explore a new region – and not knowing anyone in the state. After working briefly in Estes Park and teaching preschool in Longmont, 她申请成为RTD的巴士操作员, 我从没开过那么大的车. “我什么都愿意尝试一次，”她说.
这包括意外的公路旅行. 在两周内, Abbott spent a week in North Carolina and drove back to Denver in a day, 工作了四天, 然后和一位朋友搭上了飞往圣何塞的航班, 加州, 开车回科罗拉多. 在那段时间里，她去过东西两岸.
“我做了一件大多数人永远不会做的事, 甚至从未想过要做什么,阿博特谈到这次访问时说. “这是我的经历. 我的故事就是我的.”
“Ownership of your own story is important to me: Am I comfortable here? 这是长期的吗?? 我要改变一下吗? 身为变性人让我明白，生活没有稳定可言. 你可以随心所欲地写你的故事.”
If she won the lottery – which she plays only when it exceeds $1 billion, even then buying just a few tickets – 阿伯特说 she would take road trips the rest of her life, 到处去，想待多久就待多久. Discovering the Mini community has enabled her to see a lot of the country, 但通常是一次一两天.
Behold life in a Mini: Retracting the sunroof enables Abbott to breathe fresh air during a snowstorm. 把窗户放下, a vaguely reminiscent smell near Lake City brings her back to the honeysuckle vines lining her childhood driveway. 高程变化大, road gradients and banking within the curves – these feel like roller coasters in a small hatchback that handles like a go-kart. She finds hilarity in the dichotomy of driving both a lightweight subcompact car and a bus.
如果月食在召唤, Abbott will drive several hours to stand in rural quiet and watch the event in its entirety. “这不是一生一次的事情, 但这是唯一一次我能看到那个特别的人,”她说。. “我本可以做安全的事，然后回家. But I would have missed that moon, and time and connection with friends.这样的经历——以及学到新的东西——让她感到最快乐.
“我不认为生活是一本让你自己选择冒险的书, 因为你不能回去重新开始,艾伯特说. “You make your choices; you live with them. 你总是在前进. 但你可以选择接下来要做什么.
“None of us is guaranteed the next second, let alone the next year or the next decade. So you plan for the future, but you don’t forget to live in the present.”