This is our “little cabin on the lake”, it is set down over a foot below the the lawn and garden, with a rock wall that my husband worked on all weekend, he reset the stones which had shifted a lot in the years since we moved here.
Yes, in this cozy little cabin with a lake in the back, we have raised two children, and now the cabin is just the right size for the two of us…or three, as our son is still living with us at present. Will we ever move? I don’t know, it would be hard to leave behind the natural beauty that surrounds us, and all the memories we’ve made here. Time will tell.
It’s May which means that the official start of the shore season begins here in NJ, it usually runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day. When my children were growing up, my parents would spend a few long weekends each summer at Ocean Grove. There were a few years that we went down to join them and celebrate my son’s birthday at the end of July.
Ocean Grove is known for it’s no alcohol policy, and observance of Sunday by following blue laws, generally a community that tries to maintain a high moral standard. It is a VERY popular destination, as you can see from this picture of a crowded beach:
This is not my personal favorite time to be on the beach, I’d much prefer being there after the busy season in September, at around sunrise or sunset, sitting on the beach looking at serene scenes like the following…nothing more soothing than the sound crashing waves:
Ocean Grove has a great boardwalk which takes you right to Asbury Park, and is known for it’s many Victorian homes, many along the ocean have been turned into hotels, like The Shawmont where my parents used to stay. We hope to take Mom down there this summer.
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I’ll have some more Jersey Shore posts in the days to come as the season is upon us!
Yesterday was a nice day, not as sunny as it has been here in New Jersey for the past couple weeks, and not quite as warm, but with everything turning green, it is still beautiful. It was a busy day, but we took a little time between stops to unwind at the Ecology Center in Wyckoff which is now called the James A. McFaul Environmental Center. We have visited there during many occasions in our life, when we were dating we had pictures taken there; when our children were young we took them to see the animals and walk the trails; now that they are grown, we just go to walk, remember and enjoy the peaceful environment. Here are a few pictures for you:
These turkeys were so much fun to watch, they couldn’t get enough of strutting their stuff, and the closer we got to the cage, the more they strutted, what a pair!
The Peacocks never did display their tail feathers for us, there were two of them, but looking closely at the tail feathers, you could imagine what it would have looked like. It was amazing to see them run around with their long, beautiful “train” behind them.
Yes, that’s me, and I’ll do my usual female thing of saying it was at the end of a long day, I didn’t have time to fix myself up, I forgot to take of my glasses, yadayadayada, but that’s the real me, no escaping it! Isn’t the tree beautiful?
When it was time to leave, two handsome geese lead the way, a fine end to a beautiful day!
(I just had to come back and take a closer look at this picture, my husband just told me that if you look closely to the left of the goose furthest away, there are two little goslings, I think that’s how you spell it? Can you see them? They are SO tiny right now. We saw another mother goose on her nest quickly pull her little ones under her…you couldn’t see them, but could hear their little “peeps” from under her.)
When my husband and I first met, it was at a church get together…something my girlfriend talked me into going to that I wasn’t really interested in. Oh, I loved God and going to church, just wasn’t into going that night. At this get-together, I sat down at a picnic table with a big burly guy and we talked quite a bit, and in our conversation, found out we worked about a block away from each other. I was a legal secretary, and the Bergen County Court House is in Hackensack (pictured), so that was the place to be.
My future husband was working only a block away for a company that installed traffic systems all over the US, but it took a while for him to get up the nerve to ask me out…our first “date” was lunch at a local diner, which lead to many other dates, and 7 months later, marriage. For the first year of our marriage we traveled to work together, and met for lunch every day. We did that until he took me away from NJ for a 7 month business trip to Colorado, his childhood home, where I finally got to know his family….and where our son, who is now 26, was conceived…and the rest, as they say, is history.
I guess our anniversary coming up in a few weeks has me a bit sentimental.
As we honor Women’s History Month, I thought a post or two honoring New Jersey women who have made it into the history books for their influence in American history would be appropriate.
All of you, boomers and non-boomers alike will remember reading about Clara Barton. I have to admit I wasn’t much for history class, no matter what grade I was in, the teachers made it so boring to listen too, but it fascinates me today, I guess I’m making up for lost time.
Clara Barton is best known as the founder of the American Red Cross, but she began her working career in education. In 1852 she opened the first public school in Bordentown, NJ (pictured), a school that grew from humble beginnings to 600+ students. Sadly, she left the school when they would not allow her the position of head of the school because she was a woman. It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it, when you consider that she opened the school. But history shows us that she had a greater destiny.
Her real fame was realized as a nurse during the Civil War. It was then that she founded the Red Cross. She oversaw the leadership of the Red Cross for over 20 years.
Looking back at her life, I can see that it is a good example of how, when God ends something that we think is important to us in our life, perhaps it’s because He has something greater in store for us.
We are blessed to live so close to the Ocean, of course here in New Jersey we call it the shore. It’s nice to dream about as we once again have snow falling outside our cabin. The shore season officially begins on Memorial Day, and ends Labor Day, but our favorite time to go is just after the season ends in September. It’s quiet, no traffic, the beaches aren’t crowded, the prices are lower and the weather is still beautiful most of the time.
I’m not a sun bather, so don’t spend a lot of time on the beach in the heat of the day, you’ll find me there at sunrise, or sunset, beautiful, peaceful times. As for where to go, wow, oh my there’s so many different places, I’ll tell you about some we’ve visited in other posts as the spring and summer months get closer, but…sigh…I just had to take some time to dream a bit.
Just a little 2/29/08 Update – A local newspaper, “The Messenger”, found this blog and picture last week, and asked if they could use the picture. I connected them with my son, and he took it from there, the picture was in the paper we received today, thank you, Messenger, and congratulations on a great job, my dear son, Mark!
By the way, we’re having more snow today and into tomorrow.
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We had the most beautiful snow today, making for a winter wonderland on our rural street. My son took some pictures, this facing toward the dead-end of our street. Our home on the lake is on the left, and on the right, the homes are backed by a State Forest. Have a great weekend everyone!
In New Jersey, there are literally hundreds of Diners. No, I don’t mean people who “Dine”, I mean eating establishments called Diners. My husband was amazed at how many there were when he moved from Colorado to New Jersey years ago, they just don’t have them out west.
On my route to work in earlier years, I passed the Bendix Diner every day. This is your classic old-style diner, showing some age, but the food is great. Bendix Diner is one of the most photographed Diners, and the inside was used for shooting movies such as “Diner” in the 1980′s starring Kevin Bacon and other notable stars. But to me, it’s just a familiar place I see when I drive Route 17, a real piece of Americana right here in New Jersey.
The newer diners, the ones that no longer have the metallic look of an over-sized Air Stream camper, vary a bit in appearance inside and out, but there are a few things you can pretty much count on; a display of delicious Pies in a glass case as you enter; your choice between eating at a counter; at tables with bench seats that line the wall, and are often fastened to the wall called booths; and then there’s the open dining area with tables and chairs in the central area, and booths lining the walls.
What’s the best thing about a Diner…besides the pies? The huge selection on the menu! Some Diners are open 24 hours a day, and you can get any meal, including breakfast, at any time during the day or night.
