13: The Polar Exprest

Day 13 and on to the Southern Hemisphere's cutest inhabitant: the Christmas tree button penguin, or 'pebuin' as per Babish.

Black, white, cold all over.

By process of polar opposition, a little-known style of logical leap, I am reminded of this household's favourite mode of Arctic transport: 'The Polar Exprest' (local pronunciation).

 Northbound on the Polar Exprestway. 

Ali, thoughtful newborn that she was, had the foresight to come home from the hospital with a wooden train set for her big sister. The faithful engine (above) quickly assumed its respected name from Ana's favourite Christmas book. A year on, Ali has outgrown chewing on her toes and now shares her big sister's devotion to the train cause.

The Snowman Express. 

Two train-lovers under one roof means that we now collectively own eleventy-hundred trains and administer a complex network. I can proudly say that our trains never encounter signal failure or are besieged by the wrong kind of snow/leaves/snowy leaves on the line. Additionally, our trains are very well-decorated (see Nana's Christmas train above) and devoid of graffiti. But there are limits to what toys can pull off. Our network is occasionally delayed by AAA-battery outages, and we can't get you to Victoria Station, or indeed past the sitting room.