One of my fondest childhood memories (cliche!) is lying in bed at night and listening to not-so-distant freight and passenger trains clattering along, and especially to that whauugghh sound, that honky, drawn-out groan…one of the great all-time reminders that life pushes on and that endeavor and industry never sleep, which is generally comforting.

There’s a train track a few hundred feet from the condo where I’m staying in Wilton, Connecticut, and every night I hear that sound.

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