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80 Days

Jules Verne insisted that one could circumnavigate the globe in 80 days. The youngest gingerbread offspring must have picked up on this vibe today, because he asked if you could go to Azerbaijan. When you responded that perhaps you could just start with Austria, he smiled. And then asked if you could fly to Iraq.

Austria first, please?

“Maybe Uruk?” he asked.

This is what comes of reading The Tale of Gilgamesh for homeschooling.

Yesterday when you returned home from family camp, the obvious quiet coming from the chicken coop concerned you. Sure enough, when you went to check the chickens, they were all victims of a local criminal—probably of the fox variety—and it makes you sad, even if you hadn’t been to visit them in a while. The backyard feels empty now.

You went to the police station today—not to report the fox, but to get a letter stating that you have no criminal record so you can have an official piece of American bureaucracy to show to the Austrian government for their official residency bureaucracy. The youngest gingerbread offspring has one, too, and was somewhat perplexed by the likelihood of a 14-year old boy with a criminal record. If only the fox had one.

Auf wiedersehen, Hahnchen. May your coop in the heavens be full of clean shavings and plentiful water.


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