Brought to you by the Small World Department

This morning Tom went to visit with a friend from the little railroad who was at the VA for chemo. While he was there, I drove the newly-repaired Equinox over to Woodman's to pick up a few things. While I was wandering around the store, I kept encountering a woman pushing a cart in which sat a little boy, I would guess four years old, who was constantly chattering. In this regard he reminded me of one of our neighbors on Berry Road.

When I got into line to check out, the woman and boy were in front of me. He was still rattling away, and he looked at me and smiled. He had on one of those pullover caps that looks like a dinosaur or something and I told him I liked his cap.

This got him very excited and he turned his conversation Michael-ward. I could only understand about half of what he said, much of it having to do with things he got for Christmas (like the cap, I guess), among which the starring items were things for his train set. He paused finally, apparently waiting for me to answer a question I had not understood.

The woman, who looked like she might be his grandmother, said to him, "They may not have trains."

I told him that we used to have trains but had given them to our grandchildren. He was delighted. His grandmother told me that he was fascinated by trains, and I told her that I used to work at a shop in the Dells that was connected to one of the attractions.

"Oh," she said, "whenever we go to the Dells, we always ride the train."

And, yes, it turned out to be the Riverside & Great Northern Railway where Tom has volunteered so much time and where I used to manage the museum gift shop.

I told the boy that I thought it was cool that he had been on the train where I used to work, and he agreed loudly, "It is cool."

And it was.