Great article by Joyce Maynard in the New Yort Times Style magazine here about traveling around New England for a summer

The astonishing part was looking out at this perfect lake, from the dock, and seeing no more than a scattering of lights. Most remarkable, though, were those moments, in the middle of the night, when I’d lie there and realize we were hearing and seeing something that many people, in places like New York City, and even Marin County, may go a whole lifetime without experiencing: Total darkness. Total silence, pierced now and then by the haunting cry of loons.

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One interesting tangent to this story is Joyce Maynard’s scandalous past.  I had no idea who she was when I read the article, but after looking for the link to it, I stumbled across her fascinating Wikipedia page.  Spoiler: She was in a relationship with J.D. Salinger.  She was 18, and he was 53.