To Cross a Continent

The kids, Boadicea and Bradley, get the same gifts from us this year as they do every Christmas: train track. And none of that curved track, either. I ask you: Is there anything more pointless and defeating than a miniature train set that runs in a circle or loops back on itself in a figure eight? What kind of lesson is that to give impressionable children? I say teach them to go beyond themselves; to seek new horizons. Over the years they’ve accumulated some 2,300 miles in straight track.

Désirée, the mother of my children, gets a new power generator and telegraph set so she can keep a tight hand on operations.