The daily parking lot across from the Aberdeen train platform is usually full by 5 a.m. Bleary-eyed drivers sit in their cars with the engines running and heat cranked up.
Headlights break up the dark morning and smoke from tail pipes creates a foggy haze in the lots.
Some read the paper or sip their morning cup of coffee. Others catch a few final winks of sleep in their cars before their next leg of the commute begins. The streets are deserted when I drive here, until I get near the train station. I don't see anyone before I go to work, but this is the only way to get a space. It is a painful ritual, but, for those without a montly permit, it is the only way to park in the lots around the train station.