They represent the power of mundane objects, of seemingly insignificant ephemera, to remind us of a larger human desire to keep a record, to remember, to travel, to wander, and to discover.

Not only did the customs and habits of the household remain the same, the contents did too, and this staid but harmonic environment was a source of tremendous comfort. Its crockery and cutlery enchanted me. Pyrex with matching lids, cut-glass serving bowls that caught the light, sandwich plates, faux-bone-handled knives, a special spoon for grapefr

I pulled from my pocket a black, oilcloth-covered notebook, its pages held in place with an elastic band. ‘Nice notebook,’ he said. ‘I used to get them in Paris,’ I said. ‘But now they don’t make them any more.’