Steam!

There's an entry in Brian Eno's marvellous 'A Year With Swollen Appendices' where he talks about the phenomenon whereby as soon as we conquer a technology problem, then we go back and embrace it. As an example - if my memory serves correctly - he talks about how once we could get a really clear recording of an electric guitar, then we enjoyed dirtying the noise up. I suppose - and this may have been his point, actually, now I think about it - we embrace these features once they become a choice and not a necessity.

One example might be the resurgence of vinyl, whose proponents argue that the format sounds better* but who now embrace the hiss and crackle of a needle traversing the record. Another example might be the steam train. They pass along the valley below Swallow Barn at the rate of one or two an hour, and I think I was excited every time. Our Twitter friend @simbuck2 and his partner were also, by coincidence, in Whitby this weekend and they joined us this morning for a late breakfast, which we had on the deck overlooking the valley and the trains. We stopped and watched every time one went past.

I'm too young to remember when steam trains were commonly on our railways but I do remember the old style trains. I liked the compartments, just like in Harry Potter, and the doors that you could open before the train had stopped**, but what I liked best and miss most of all was the wood. I love wood. 

* it really doesn't to me. 
** I once made the craziest landing from a moving train at Waterloo. I managed to stay upright but never did it again.