Reading: Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children, though not noticeably; more noticeably, Rosamund Pilcher's Winter Solstice

Water: Rain

14 June 2002: Gloucester

Friday we achieved Gloucester by way of Kittery outlets, Portsmouth's interesting little historic/ tourist section, and a game of miniature golf. We did a pub crawl and I saw no shlocky Perfect Storm souvenirs anywhere. We nearly bought out a store's selection of Rapid Random greeting cards, of which I'd never before heard. The Change and Hate to See You Go ones were among my favorites, although of course this one and that one were also touching. And there is no disputing the wisdom of this.

The Gloucester hotel lay so close to the sea, just over a lawn and a road and down some rocks, that we slept to the sound of waves crashing on the rocks all night. It was wonderful.