The day's heat has gathered and I am ready to step down from the machine. Traveling at 30 miles per hour has lost some of its charm. I want a shower and a hot meal. I have been aware of its working all day long. The next day we reverse the trip, skirting a serious thunderstorm.
Some rain spills into the car, blowing in crosswise and under the windshield.
But before the storm arrives, we make it home. Ed pulls into his garage. Using the cover of the thunderstorm, I boom along and turn up the radio, another metal and glass capsule trying to make time, all the while losing the present. A museum created by one man, who for 30 years has purchased the past as it faded from his native Greenfield. He has set up a church, a schoolhouse, and nearly two dozen shops, including a complete pharmacy, and his antique toy collection.