1. License plates. Every time I've been away for a while, coming back to NJ and getting on the road for the first time and seeing tons of yellow license plates. It takes a moment for my brain to catch up and realize I'm not just surrounded by Jersey people in Louisiana or Arizona or Virginia, but it's a little bit exciting every time.
2. Pitch pines. Never in a hundred thousand million billion trillion years am I going to get sick of those scraggly, crooked, scrub pines all over south Jersey.
3. My parents' kitchen. They redid it a few years ago and it's glorious and there's tons of counter space and the oven is huge and I love it as soon as I remember where everything is.
4. Mental maps. Yesterday I drove from downtown Toms River to an office in Freehold that I've been to many times before , but could not actually remember how to get there. But I knew I needed to take the Parkway to 195 and then the exit... I'll remember it when I see it, and then oh I remember that farm! and I turn at that one willow tree, and go by this Wawa, and I know this road on the left even though that housing development wasn't here last time...I might not remember the names or numbers of any of these roads, but it is very hard for me to get completely lost in New Jersey, and that is awesome.
5. Volunteering with NRCS in NJ. Yesterday, I got to visit with four different staff members who I've volunteered with in the past two years since I started with the agency. I am in constant awe of how fortunate I am to receive great training and a wee bit of mentorship from these people. I obviously made sure I had time to go out and survey some soil, too! Glauconitic soils for the win.
6. Context. This goes along with the last one, mostly because when I do fieldwork, it's really helpful and empowering to have a clue what's going on around you and why. I've learned a lot about Louisiana this year, and I'm really enjoying my time there, but I would say that I know slightly more about NJ. You know, that whole time I taught Geography of New Jersey and all. I learned a lot of stuff for that, on top of the perpetual learning that went on for the first 18 years of my life that I lived here, and the many other times in the past decade that I've spent extended periods of time here.
7. Springtime. One of my favorite things about NJ is that it has four
distinct seasons. I love them all, but I especially love the transitions
from one to the next. This year I got to experience the transition to
spring in south Louisiana, in Washington, DC and now in NJ. My allergies
are pretty sad about it, but I am loving all of the trees with pretty
little buds and new leaves, and the sunshine and fresh air.
8. My mom's cat. If I'm upstairs in my parents' home, chances are highly likely that I have a cute, furry, purring friend attached to my side. Like right now.
9. Pizza that is good. Also bagels that are good.
10. Knowing that I have entirely too many people and places that I love and want to see in the short whirlwind that I am home. It's impossible when I only come home for a weekend at a time, but it's really reassuring and wonderful to know that it's all here when I do come back.
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