I have crossed the border with a parcel packed and wrapped for mailing only once, in 2008 when Edmund was deployed in Afghanistan with an American formation. Fortunately for me, the border guard I encountered that day was an Army Reservist who had returned from Iraq only a few months before. If he had not accepted my recitation of the contents — coffee, marmalade, evaporated milk, socks, peanut butter and a fruitcake — the parcel would have been confiscated and destroyed. I don’t think I would get such consideration today — not that I have any inclination to drive to Buffalo any time soon. That’s a three-hour trip from Stratford.