My mind beat back north, thinking of the puffins' flight, the lines we leave behind us, the spacious weave, our wake, then sleep.

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Days before the Nets were supposed to make their Brooklyn debut at the Barclays Center, on November 1, their long-time announcer was home in New Jersey, preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy and thinking about a flight to Texas, where he was scheduled to call the Buffalo- Houston game on November 4.

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But in this day of shrinking consumer confidence and growing mistrust of institutions, it was the second interesting thing about the flight that got me thinking.

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