It’s raining again. The difference is that we are in New Jersey instead of Virginia. Our epic summer travel has begun. The house is being watched, as are the dogs. So it is odd to be without some of the usual interruptions.

We already had our quick trip to New York City. Ann’s friend Joanna had her 40th birthday party. We got to go to that. It was fun to talk to other grown ups. I have discovered that I can actually carry on conversations with complete strangers and not be nervous. This is a new thing for me. And, true, in some situations it doesn’t hold up. But more often than not I can do just fine. In high school I was the kid that didn’t want to talk in class, and didn’t talk at parties. In most social situations with large groups of people I would just clam up. So I see this as a great step.

More details on the rest of the NYC trip soon.