Evan – In this version of the future, the rich will still come out ahead because apart from the Amish they’re the ones with most of the intact horse infrastructure. Horse futures, they got ‘em. Sort of.

I’m investing now in “horse futures” and bullish on beasts of burden.

And steam, what a precious convention. Seems so un-portable. Thank God for enthusiasts and the obsessed.

Yes, it’s impossible to be a poet and a polemicist, to perceive and to judge, in the same instant, isn’t it?

The shinier ones probably get lots of TLC in the course of a year, and this group does have a spring show also, but it’s not clear to me whether they are used for anything other than exhibitions. If I go back there next year, I’ll try to get some interviews. My brother who used to live in Nebraska tells me that keeping old farm equipment in working order is a hobby shared by many, many farmers in the Midwest — and I gather in the U.K. too, from what Dick is saying. It’s interesting that so many would use the leisure time created by modern combines, etc. to care for their predecessors!