1. Visiting with my beloved cousin (who lives in Indonesia) for the first time in over two years.  Random: The last day I saw her, I woke up early to watch the royal wedding; submitted a grad school paper on Frances Burney.  This feels like a good barometer of what two years means.

2.  Looking at the prairie sunflowers on Sandy Hook, New Jersey’s beaches.  I can’t find out how they got there originally.  Wind?  A seed scatterer from some past beach trip?  I tried to read about their history, but couldn’t find it.  Regardless, they grow there along the sand dunes with the ferns and sedges and grass.