This is so beautiful - I would have sworn I commented on this already but apparently no. This:

...being with someone, even Marie, is better than being alone with my thoughts. Which is ironic, as we travel mostly in silence, each keeping our thoughts mostly to ourselves. What amazingly contrary creatures we humans can be. Especially when traveling back in time, so to speak, to a home that, in reality, no longer exists.

You strike the right balance of introspection and forward motion of the story as the train takes the narrator home. What a perfect metaphor, he macadamia nut tree, immature when they left home, but now in its prime, delivering a bounty of nuts (and the new owners, hopefully, are reaping it). You are such a poet - able to convey so much with so few words. All your haiku writing is building poetry muscle! This is a deft story and I look forward to more. Find the time somehow please - you have the talent! The stories! The messages, the metaphors, the words. Now, the minutes in a day. :)