Steve Fernlund and The Long Way Home

Over a lifetime, many of us have the urge to collect objects that connect to a happy memory of an event or special person. We don’t recognize a financial value, but the sentimental value is high. Sometimes we have a shoebox or two of sentimental trinkets, or we become hoarders, filling storage units, garages, and basements with accumulated memories.  Some collectors treat objects with the cold calculation of a high-tech day trader. To them, a rare coin, a vintage comic book, or a piece of fine art is a financial investment that has consistently beaten inflation, even outperforming a 401 (k).  Before using fax machines to send shipping information to the railroads, we actually talked to the billing clerks. At the Burlington Northern, our assigned clerk was old Red, a cantankerous but lovable and thorough professional. We became friends, and he was a valued source of competitive intelligence for me. He was also a coin collector. He told me that one closet in his St. Paul apartme...