Cambridge, Boston, and Ashford, Connecticut

This week Annie’s mother-in-law, Jennifer, and her friend, Joanna, visited. They live in Tianjin, China, the river port of Beijing. I picked them up at the airport on Friday and we spent Saturday together. The highlight of the day was a Boston Duck Tour, narrated by “The Codfather”, very informative and funny.

Made me fall in love with Boston all over again. And quite a contrast to the last time Jim and I were in Harvard Square, two days after Corey Johnson died. We saw Columbus, a movie set in Columbus, Indiana, where we spent four formative years in our early marriage. After the movie, I had no desire to wander: I felt a sad nostalgia as well as grief over Corey's death (and by extension, David's) and just wanted to be home. I felt like I’d never want to be part of the vibrant street life again. But the feeling didn't last.

Sunday morning, I drove Jennifer and Joanna to Ashford, CT. Connecticut has this in common with New Jersey: many people only know the cities and highways, but there are rolling, forested hills and meadows, farmhouses and fields. I tried to see the drive through Jennifer’s and Joanna’s eyes and wanted them to see everything. We had a short English lesson on the difference between a house and a building. Then Jennifer wanted to know what a ‘home’ is. How would you explain that?