3:14 a.m.

At first I stayed close by, not leaving the dock which was safe behind a locked gate. Light pollution from nearby marinas set fire to the sky. Gradually I wandered farther away, first to Lima Dock, then out the front gate. The parking lot, which had seen cars playing chicken for its final spaces only hours before was now virtually empty. My mother’s car, which I had driven all the way from New Jersey for the first time, was virtually alone, as was I, and that was how I liked it.