Got back from New Jersey at six o'clock last evening; leaving for New Hampshire this morning.

Things I noticed:

The horrible coffee at the Holiday Inn Express in Hightstown

Two callow youths discussing noise philosophy on the commuter train platform

The sandy red earth of central New Jersey

The fact that the graveyard in Cream Ridge is overflowing with not only my ancestors but also Imlays (i.e., descendants of Gilbert Imlay, adventurer and philanderer, father of Mary Wollstonecraft's older daughter, and namesake of Imlaystown, New Jersey)

That it's an odd feeling to live in a town where many of the places are named after families who aren't mine

That it's a similarly odd feeling to visit a town where many of the places are named after families who are mine

For example, at the Allentown Presbyterian Church, you have to walk through the Potter Room to get to the bathroom

That my son is the world's best grandson, evincing patience beyond measure with the sighs and distractions of his elders

That reading Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking during a week of family mourning was either a mistake or not a mistake