Travel time

. There are developmental stages even for late adulthood. You already know the usual ones. This one crept up on me without my really noticing it.
. The concept of "family" defies space. Modern people find all kinds of ways to shrink it back to manageable size: email, phone, jpg's and so forth. But until they invent teleportation, nothing can substitute for physical presence. With family scattered across three cities on two coasts the only way to shrink space for this purpose is jet flight. Of a sudden I am planning such jaunts as if they were bus trips. It's become a part of this phase of life.