Domesticated

I've always loved Highland Park. When I was a kid, I swam for the Highland Park Sting Rays, and I used to marvel at the way the town was set up, especially on Raritan Ave (which becomes Priceton's Nassau St, if you follow it far enough south).

Growing up in East Brunswick, where "Main Street" is Route 18, a teen is basically at the mercy of his parents' availability and permission. Getting a slice of pizza with friends is a big to-do, with carpooling and arrangements and so on. This doesn't exactly cripple a childhood, but it's a stark contrast to Highland Park's quaint little downtown.

Now that I've moved to big boy housing, it's clear that Highland Park is the best town in New Jersey. Everything is within walking distance. Everything. Coffee shops and banks and art galleries and pizzerias and delis and barbershops. I'm so glad I moved here.

I really can't get over the experience of Highland Park, in which I should have lived since I started grad school. People actually converse with one another... I hadn't exchanged more than a "hello" with my neighbors in 3 years of on-campus living!

So, before I go on, I've gotta give (another) big thanks to Captain Chaz, whose apartment I took over when he moved in with the lovely Mrs. Captain. Without this opportunity, I'd probably still be living in a small cell in the facility between the Freshman dorms and the Civil Engineering building.

I've undertaken two little projects since I've moved in. The first could have happened in the grad dorms, hypothetically, but the rooms were just too small to accommodate it. I walked to Robert's Florals, a local business on Raritan Ave, and purchased a project #1.

My air purifier, my interior decorator, my confidante: Moishe the Spathiphyllum.

You can call him Moishe the Peace Lilly.

Project #2 would have probably been impossible on campus. Not only did I not have a porch, but I also had a roommate who left his stinky shoes and socks by the one big window, because it's just not a living room if it doesn't smell like foot-sweat.

Now that I have a stoop, and also now that I live in a neighborhood that feels more like a community than a penal colony, I can make Sun Tea!

To be honest, Sun Tea is no easier to make than Iced Tea. It's no less expensive, and frankly it doesn't even taste better.

I make it because I can, you know?