Please indulge me in a column for fun. Sorry to have missed the last issue. I can report that my family has increased by one with the addition of my grandson Marcellus! The lad is eight weeks old and has changed marvelously since his birth. We see each other frequently and today we spent some time looking closely at each other and communicating after a fashion.

It seems that summer has arrived again after a very mild winter and changeable spring. I hope you neighbors are enjoying the barbecues, visiting, trips, working in the garden, reading books, etc., that the summer season usually offers. Hopefully you can look forward to the annual TLNA Ice Cream Social (see notice elsewhere). It's always a lot of fun besides being delicious.

I went out to Columbus (Wisconsin) recently to pick up the new Amtrak timetable so I can indulge in one of my favorite pastimes of planning a number of railroad trips, including the one I take every fall when the rates go down with the Explore America Fare. This year Amtrak and VIA (the Canadian carrier) have developed the North America Pass, good over 28,000 miles and more than 900 destinations for unlimited travel over a 30 day period.

While at the library I stumbled across a great book on train travel, Zephyr-Tracking-A Dream Across America, by Henry Kisor, book editor for the Chicago Sun Times. Some sample quotes: "Train time means large blocks of leisure to rest, read a book, write a few thousand words or simply to woolgather, letting my imagination carry me where it will... Part of the wonder for a long-distance train passenger is the joy of encountering humankind in its endless variety. The first few minutes of departure are my favorite time. I'm not quite settled in, still eager in anticipating the adventure of going somewhere, learning my surroundings, which always seem fresh and new. It is a time of expectant change."

Until next time when I will be my usual sober serious self. Have a great summer.

-Richard Linster, TLNA President


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