I made a day-counting error about this extended vacation we just started. More accurately, I misled myself by saying repeatedly that we’d be gone “for three weeks,” and technically that’s 21 days. In fact, we’ll be together as one united happy family for twenty-TWO days.

But who’s counting.

Today we continued our drive eastward. We went a few miles out of our way to visit our roots in Oberlin College, where Anthony and I met and fell in love, formed our core moral and political views, learned about critical thinking, made many of our lifelong best friends. We graduated in 1988, so a surprising amount has changed on the campus and in town, but an even more surprising amount is just the same as we remember. I felt some nervous anticipation as we drove into town, but I quickly rediscovered a basic truth about myself, which is that I don’t really get very busy with nostalgia. Life is too rich to waste much of it looking backwards ruefully.

I was going to write tonight about our Oberlin stop-off and load up some photos, after the kids fell asleep in this hotel room somewhere in Pennsylvania. Maybe I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow, because Anthony and I pulled out our emergency bottle of quality bourbon instead and drank too much out of small plastic cups as we reminisced. It’s too late for Oberlin tales now; I spent my available time having a delightful, relaxing conversation with my mate. Also I’m loopy from the bourbon so I can’t do anything complicated right now.

Tomorrow, we hit New Jersey and my in-laws’ home. (Insert sound clip of melodramatic Wagnerian opera music, such as is used in movies to introduce fatal and tragic battle scenes.) I hope to be as vacant, silent, and polite as is humanly possible around people who don’t like or understand me all that much. Also I hope to be sober by then. Good night.