November 2, 2026- Hana pointed at the United States, on the cloth globe, and babbled a question. I took the opportunity to point out Texas, then run my finger westward across the country and the Pacific ocean, to South Korea. I told her that was where her mother is from. One never knows what can settle in little minds.

My granddaughter got a good report from one of her doctors today. She is progressing very well. I pretty much come to the same conclusion, each day. She is fairly intuitive, likes compliments and has a feistiness about her, with a healthy sense of humour.

HANA’S NOTE– I was happy when I went to the doctor. He didn’t say much; just that I am strong.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: New Jersey- The Garden State gave me a wife and a stellar extended family. At Longmeadow Farm, in Pluckemin, my love for horses was rekindled and I came to know New Jersey as far more than a land of industrial cities and crowded beaches. Central New Jersey is as fine an equestrian country as any in the world.

The Turf: Northwest New Jersey is covered by the Appalachian Mountains, locally known as the Kittatinny Range. An area known simply as The Highlands falls east of the mountains, and includes the Ramapo Range. Piedmont runs south and east of The Highlands. This is prime horse country, and is where Longmeadow Farm was located. It is also where most of the state’s industrial centers are found. South and east of the Piedmont lies the Inner Coastal Plain, New Jersey’s Garden region. The outer coastal plain contains the Pine Barrens, a large wetland that is prime berry growing country. It also contains most of the Jersey Shore, with its celebrated beaches and barrier islands. New Jersey is drained by the Delaware, Passaic, Hackensack, Hudson, Raritan, Musconetcong and Mullica Rivers, along with their tributaries.

First Nations: New Jersey is the ancestral home of the Unami, Minisink and Unalachtigo peoples, all regarded as Lenni Lenape. Most of the Lenni Lenape left New Jersey, following colonial expansion in the 1740s, yet small communities still live in Vineland, Bridgeton, Rancocas and Mahwah.

Where I most feel at home- Pluckemin, Princeton, Califon, Vineland, Barnegat, Teaneck, Morristown

Where I most feel at peace- Teaneck, Barnegat, Pluckemin

NEXT: New York