Yesterday, two extra-ordinary things happened.

The first extra-ordinary thing is that, while taking Goblin on her morning stroll, we were stopped by a gentleman with obsessive eyes, who said. “What is the dog’s name?”

“Goblin,” we said.

“Goblin,” he said, as if entering this information into a mental database. “Is the dog a boy or a girl?”

“Girl,” we said.

“Is it friend [sic] dog?”

“Uh. Yes.”

With this, he bent over stiffly, gave "Goblin" the "girl" and "friend" dog two perfunctory pats on the head (more as if he were ending a transaction than being friendly), and walked away.

The second extra-ordinary thing is that I went to New Jersey of my own volition.