Arbor Day - Noteworthy Trees of New Jersey

First off, if I asked you if you had a favorite tree, would you answer yes?  Then, I would ask what made it your favorite.  My favorite of recent years is the one around the corner from me on Northmont Avenue which is huge and has a twisted spiral trunk.  It is an impressive personage altogether. 

However, I have met other famous and noteworthy trees too and on Arbor Day, they deserve a mention.

First, of course is the Salem Oak, in the Friends Burial Ground in Salem, NJ.  It has been designated the Millennium Landmark Tree of the State of New Jersey.  It is said to be (according to Brittanica online) 500 years old and was planted about the time that John Fenwick estqablished his colony in the Salem area.  I have visited the Salem Oak many times over the years, but, sadly I have not visited recently.  So here is my notice from the universe that it is time to go and say hello.

The second tree I'd like to note today is the Pygmy Pine, a dwarf variety of Pitch Pine that is found in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.  It is said that the wildfires that rage periodically through the Pine Barrens have caused the stunted growth of the Pygmy Pines.  You can find them down off Route 72, which you may recall is the way to my favorite spot on earth, Pakim Pond, in Brendan Byrne forest, formerly known as Lebanon State Forest.  I go down 295 North to Rt. 70, then follow 70 straight through 2 circles.  At the 2nd circle, you will find route 72. 

I haven't been there for a long time, but I think 72 was also the route I took to Albert Music Hall.  Which reminds me of a song, "In the Pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines."  My favorite version of that song was sung by Kurt Cobain, unplugged in New York and available on You Tube.  It is chilling.  Another favorite is "On the Trail of the Lonesome Pine."  That song was written aroun d1913 and was popular during World War I, but, even before that, it was a novel written around 1908, written by John Fox.

I love trees and have always felt that they are like people in another atomic and molecular arrangement.  The ones in my yard are like neighbors to me and I thrill each year when their leaves unfurl.

A WONDERFUL book about these botanical miracles such as the leafing of trees is Lab Girl by Hope Jahren.  I read a review of it and have been delighted by the book for the past few days while I was laid up sick with a terrible head and chest cold. 

One of my fond memories of childhood was moving from the Charles Dickens like brick factory/prison-like school I attended in Philadelphia a true asphalt jungle, to New Jersey,to a school with a grassy playground and a corner where a boy showed me a shrub that produced roots that smelled like rootbeer.  He said it was sassafrass.  One day, after our kind and gracious teacher, Miss Heal, had rehearsed us for several days, we opened the windows of the school and sang the Joyce Kilmer Poem "I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree."  While they planted a tree beside the sidewalk in front of the school.  They did this for several years and the trees still thrive there. 

Today I had lunch with thirty old classmates, all of us went to Maple Shade grade schools, then Merchantville High School.  Several of whom remembered Miss Heal and Arbor Day at our school.  We also practiced another archaic and charming holiday traidition, the May Pole Dance.  My mother sewed me a blue skirt, and along with a number of other girls in blue skirts and white blouses, I took my place holding a long strand of fabric tied to the top of a May Pole, and several boys and we girls, danced around the Maypole in a configuration that caused our long strands of white and blue fabric to weave together. 

So that is my entry for Arbor Day and for May Day.  Hope you go to visit the Pygmy Pines and I hope you have had  a favorite tree in your life!  Happy Trails!  Jo Ann

Main Street Art, Maritza's and More Places To Go and Things To Do Spring 2016

Yesterday, two friends and I enjoyed a lovely afternoon in Maple Shade, NJ.  We went to Maritza's for lunch, which has the most consistently delicious food of any of the many places I have gone for lunch with friends, and by far, the most reasonable prices.  I don't mind spending a little more for a lunch but I hate it when I spend more and order what I have had before and it isn't good anymore.  For example (I won't name places, but I have had wonderful broccolli quiche and then gone to the same place and it is leftover and heated in the microwave, which isn't a good idea with broccolli.  Also, I have had great veggie burgers that on subsequent trips were mushy and unpalatable, at the same place.)  At Maritza's, it is ALWAYS good and I particulraly like the eggplant parmesan sandwich.

We walked in the cool spring breeze and delightful newly arrived spring weather, to Main Street Art which is run by an old college classmate of mine.  What a great idea!  Her flyer offers Fun With Family and Friends, Painting Parties, Art Lessons, Bring Your Own Beer, Wine and Snacks, and many other opportunities to be creative, incoluding jewelry making.  Also, it is a great place to shop for Birthday gifts!  The Occasions run for $30 per person and a 6 person minimum.  

Next stop on our trip down Main Street was the very old and quaint Dairy Queen which I have photographed many times and where I have bought chocolate dips since I was 13 years of age.  We crossed the street to visit the One Room Schoolhouse, a perfect example of its kind and dating from 1811.

By the Way, I neglected to put in some dates froma  brochure I picked up at Whitesbog, so let me put that in here:

April 23, Moonlight Walk at 7 pm
May 1, Outdoor Painting Competition from 9 to 1 - Outdoor painting on the historic and picturesque Whitesbog village grounds with a show, judged and a prize at the end of the day.  $20 fee, whitesboggallery@gmail.com
May 7, Whitesbog Workday and Village Tour 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. tour at 1
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May 14 - Don't Forget NEW JERSEY STATE HISTORY FAIL  from 11 - 5 at the Monmouth Battlefield State Park, (609)-777-0238
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Back to Whitesbog in May, 21st Spring Celebration garden ttours, bird walks, container planting and terrarium workshops www.whitesbog.org for more details

May 21 Moonlight Walk 7 p.m.

I wanted to visit Cowtown today but it is raining, Saturday April 23, so we are postponing and will do something indoors like Red Mill Antiques or Antiques Emporium in Burlington and a dog walk.

Speaking of Dogs, I want to again recommend Dr. Sheehen, at Sheehen Veterinary in Fairview, Camden.  He is compassionate, knowledgeable and I have been going to him for decades and with dozens of pets.  Also, The Dog House in Audubon is super for grooming.  Just call them and make an appt.  They took excellent care of my sister's Cairn Terrier after he was rescued from the fire.  He had melted mystery blobs stuck in his fur and on his skin.  He came back from them, calm, peaceful, clean and well cared for.  My sister was worried because he had been traumatized and she wanted gentle treatment, which we believe he received.  They are located on Atlantic Avenue in Audubon.  I pay $45 and a tip of $10.

Happy Trails!  Thanks for dropping by and I hope some of the information proves helpful to you.  Jo Ann

Whitesbog, More

Two times in the last two weeks, I have hiked at Whitesbog with a friend, Barb Spector and my dog, Trixie.  It is a glorious time to hike at the bogs because it is cool and the bogs are a hot and sunny place as summer comes on.

Fortunately the last time I hiked at the bogs, the store was open and I was able to buy birthday gifts for a friend of mine.  I bought her soda, handmade soap, blueberry jam and, I must admit, I bought her chocolate covered cranberries which I ate.  I'll have to go back for me.

There were many many other items to buy at the store and lots of fun gift ideas.  For those of you who may not be familiar with the history of Whitesbog, Elizabeth White developted the high bush berry into the cultivated and famous New Jersey blueberry!  Also, she was a a world renowned expert on the holly and the cranberry.

The Whites plantation was a hub of agricultural activity, especially in autumn cranberry harvesting season when buses loaded with workers from Philadelphia would pull into the village. 

Elizabeth White was a horticultural devotee, and worked with the government and with the state university on agricultural projects. 

The store is open weekends from February to December from 10:00 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Get on over there now while it is cool and enjoy the blue sky reflected in the water filled bogs, framed by the white sand access roads.  Gorgeous!

Next stop - Cowtown!  I haven't been there in 50 years and I'm going on Saturday with a friend.  I am against the use of animals for entertainment, especially when the 'entertainment' includes cruelty to the animals but I want to visit the stores and see what it is like there now. 

I found a great deqal of interesting information on Sally Starr's old log cabins on a site called South Jersey Trails - It was known as Ole's Ranch and here is the  link if you want to check it out.  I feel an exploration coming on.....Happy Trails!  Jo Ann
https://southjerseytrails.org/?s=Ole+Larsen+log+cabins

Cuntry Western New Jersey

Some years back, I used to go country western dancing on Route 38 at Prospector's.  It was so much fun, but eventually my eyesight precluded long distance night driving and my knees were less than happy about all night line dancing.  Nonetheless, from early childhood and my Sally Starr television days, I have been a fan of Country Western music, clothes, movies and lore. 

A few years ago, before she passed away, I the the chance to see Sally Starr in person through a Paulsdale Institute program.  She was still pretty, still wearing her boots and hat and gorgeous cowgirl outfit and still lucid and interesting. 

Last week, I went to see the new film about Hank Williams, I Saw the Light.  To me it was disappointing.  It seemed flat and missing the magic that I remembered from my early days when my parents had all those singing stars on 45 rpm records.  When they got the big stereo, I was allowed to play the 45's on my little portable.  I wish I had them now. 

Although the movie was disappointing, the book upon which it was based as been very informative and being such a great fan of my state, New Jersey, I wasn't too surprised to find there was a connection between Hank and Jersey  MGM paid 3.5 million dollars to convert a munitions plant in Bloomfield, NJ, into a record pressing plant "Capable of churning out 40 million records a year."  (pg. 66)

Hank's first records were pressed here and distributed in March 1947 (the 'launch date') One of the first hits the label achieved was Hank Williams song "Honky Tonkin"  Although I searched out the origins of the term honky tonk, I was unable to find a definitive answer.

All my life I have craved a cowgirl outfit.  Last year I tried to buy one on-line for my birthday, but I couldn't find the kind I wanted.  I wanted a Sally Starr, Dale Evans outfit.  All I could find however, were sexy aloon girls and wierd midi length fake suede get-ups or mini skirted outfit that looked like something some poor waiter would be forced wear ina  Western dive bar (a la Hooters).  What I did find, though, were two Country Wetern outfitters in the Woodstown area off highway 40 one of them in Cowdtown.  I will let you know when I go there, what I find.  Also, in Woodstown, in the summer, there is an excellent Bluegrass festival I have enjoyed in years past, but missed the last two years due to the night driving problem.

My eyesight problem is genetic and it is called Fuch's Dystrophy.  It is a deterioration of the cornea over time.  I can see well enough to drive in daylight but I don't feel confident at night, but I do drive when I need to and high beams and my glasses help enormously.  There is no cure or treatment for Fuch's but only when my corneas are shot, to get a transplant.  I hope to die before I need to do that, by which I mean that I hope it progresses so slowly I am in my nineties when I die with my own cornea still in my eyes.

Anyhow, Happy Trails!  Go see the movie and let me know what YOU think of it!
Jo Ann