The Trailing Edge

           Here's where our story begins. Previous chapter Ben apparently enjoyed a restful nap. He retired to his room after a relatively light lunch and stayed there for a couple of hours. I should have done the same. Instead, it was at my body clock’s personal ebb tide when Ben emerged, smiling, and said he was eager to resume our studies. He had questions about everything. As before, he was really intrigued by restaurants. On the front page of the advertising circular he’d looked at was an ad for a place called El Sombrero, a couple of towns over. Ben wanted to know more about Mexico and why so many people seemed to like food that originated there. I called Trevor in to assist, and he did a beautiful job of filling Ben in on Mexico’s relationship with Spain (which would have been current during the American Revolution) and key developments since then. “When we get back to history, which will be soon, we’ll talk about the Louisiana Purchase in...