Excerpt: Dawn of Steam

My dearest Cordelia,

You cannot begin to imagine the views afforded by travel aboard these military dirigibles. While the first day was quite difficult in many ways, that time has passed, and now I am finding myself quite at home aboard this wondrous vehicle. I spend what time I feel I can waste holding tight to the rails outside and admiring the grounds below, though we are now quite near the coast and can see the choppy waters in the distance. Until one has had this amazing perspective, it is hard to imagine the true meaning of “as far as the eye can see”, for there are times the ground below seems to stretch on forever, and entire villages and even towns seem tiny by comparison to the sheer scope of vision offered by being so high above our beloved home. We were not able to travel particularly close to London, to my regret, in part because we have only so much in the way of supplies, but I can only imagine it would be particularly breathtaking seen from above and out of the crowded paths and shops. Even writing of the experience seems insufficient and even a waste of time many times, for words cannot accurately capture the splendour of the greatest nation on Earth seen from Heaven's own view of it.