Other Things to do when it is too hot to hike

An old college buddy of mine opened an Art studio on Main Street in Maple Shade, called, appropriately, Main Street Art.  You can have a delightful and delicious lunch at Maritza's one block down from Main Street Art, then take a painting, ceramics, jewelry class at Main Street Art and have fun while you stay cool. 

My gym is open again.  It was closed for plumbing repairs.  I go to Planet Fitness in Brooklawn SHopping Center.  It is clean, welcoming, well appointed and best of all, it has a 30 minute fitness express room which always encouraged me to go because who doesn't have 30 minutes?  My fitness regimen includes Weight Watchers at the Bellmawr Plaza off Browning Road in Bellmawr, the Planet Fitness Gym and from this week on, walking before the gym when it is cool.  I used to walk after the gym but noon is too hot now.  And I used to walk at National Park in the evenings but it is too crowded now.

I went last night to Red Bank Battlefield, though I haven't been going as the parking is often closed off due to Pokeman crowds, though I am glad they are out and visiting the parks and I hope the sunset and cool breezes and pine scent can penetrate their consciousness enough to bring them back without their phones some time in the future.  Last night however, I could see a mountain range of dark clouds slowly moving over the river and I went home after half a walk and just as I got to Rt. 130, the skies opened up and the deluge came crashing down.  I was glad to be home, and glad too that all my rescued animal companions were safe and secure in our home.  I feel so lucky sometimes.

Happy Trails and Happy Alternatives to trails!  I'll add more places as I think of them.
So far that was movies at Carmike and lunch at Bankock City, and Main Street Art and lunch at Maritza's.
Jo Ann

Too Hot to Hike but other fun things to do

Well, now that we have been living in the 90's for a couple of weeks, it is too hot not only for my brown Lab Trixie, but also for me.  I persevered for a time by walking in the evening at Red Bank Battlefield, but the crowds got to the guards and they closed the parking lot several times when I got there and I would have had to park way down Hessian Ave and walk in the heat and sun to the park, so I gave up and went home.  Lately, I've been getting up earlier and going to Knights Park before the gym when it is somewhat cooler and twice this week I went when we had had a storm and there was cooling and puddles for my dog.

One day when my daughter was here helping with the some work at the house, we went to the movies and saw Ghostbusters an old favorite of ours.  There was a lot of idito hullablaloo over re-doing the movie with female actors in the iconic roles.  I guess it would be like Beatles fans hating it if a soul singer did a Beatles song, or a jazz group did an interpretation of a blues song.  I am for mixing it up myself.

The movie was great!  It was hilarious, and different enough.  The actors were terrific.  I recommend it as a fun summer thing to do.  We went to Carmike Theater in Voorhees. 

Most of my friends and I stay out of the woods in summer even though it is so much cooler there because we have had terrible experiences with chiggers and ticks and several of my friends have had Lymes disease.  Hence, you haven't been hearing from me about hikes lately.

There will be a film at Whitesbog on September 17 about the Pinelands that was made bya  filmmaker friend of my daughters and acted in by a writer friend of mine, Barbara Solem who wrote Ghosttowns and Other Quirky Places in the New Jersey, Pines, and Batsto Jewel of the Pines, and before those two, The Forks.  I'll be there and I hope you will too.  I can't post the time as I don't have the information yet.  I had word of mouth from my daughter because she is going and invited me to come with her.  You may find it on Whitesbog's site. 

Pokemon Go Mania at National Park

I went to Red Bank Battlefield at National Park for my sunset walk as I do everynight but on this night there were no parking spots!  I never saw so many people.  I asked the first person I saw what was going on and he said there were a couple of parties. BUT, when I got to the river walk, there were scores of young people all completely engrossed in their phones.

Now like any other adult in this modern world, I am used to seeing young people walking around, or sitting somewhere eyes glued to their pones as though they were caught in some science fiction tractor beam, but this was even beyond all that.  Some groups seemed gathered around a tree here and there, all quiet and all staring down at their phones.  So I asked another person, and this one said it was Pokemon!

He explained it to me but I must confess I didn't get it.  Something about a ball and gathering gems and doing battle.  Later, I asked google on my tablet and it explained the new game got people up and out and chasing little Pokemon figures at historic places.  I am glad they are getting out and exploring their surroundings, I just wish they saw them too.  The sunsets were gorgeous the last two nights, but I'm not sure anyone but me actually saw them, or the other odd couples my age who were not staring at their cell phones.

Anyway I am glad they came to visit this historic and noteworthy spot and I wish we had some costumed guides around to tell them what it was famous for, especially so close to 4th of July!

Small Towns and Small Town Newspapers - The Retrospect

Today, I met some friends, fellow retired teachers, for lunch in Collingswood, NJ at Sabrina's where the air conditioner was broken and theyoung mother next to us had two tots with the most high pitched mind shattering shrieks I've ever heard and at Sabrina's I've heard plenty of loud children.  Anyhow the roar was deafening and the heat was oppressive, so after we ate, we beat a hasty retreat to REVOLUTION coffee shop a few blocks up Haddon Avenue towards Westmont and around the corner.  It was a quiet haven of coolness and coffee fragrance and I recommend it.  The food at Sabrina's is still excellent but I won't be going back because I can't stand the noise level - they need baffles.  But, if you go after lunch, the moms and toddlers are gone and the with them the shrieking.  I'm not against kids, I had one, but I must say, my daughter NEVER screamed in a restaurant and we ate out from the time she was a baby.  Maybe she was just an unusually well behaved child.  I did, however, talk to her about restaurant manners, and she was cool.

I always stop in the Retrospect when I'm in Collingswood.  I just love small town newspapers.  The news is interesting and it is the news you won't find in the Sunday Courier Post, (such as the controversy over police visiting a school for a possible racial epithet, and controversy over a sidewalk sculpture - a previous issue) plus I like to know what events are coming, and I like to see the house prices.  This issue ran a small column saying you could donate to Almost Home Animal Shelter by dropping off canned food, towels, paper towels, laundry soap, bleach and a few other things, at the Retrospect office, which is right on Haddon Avenue in the center of town.  I hope the War Memorabilia is still in the window.  They did a splendid job.  It was evocative and colorful, especially to someone like me, with every generation of my family having at least one man serving in the armed forces, if not more.  I want them remembered, though we were extraordinarily lucky that all of our men came home alive from the first World War through to Vietnam.  I took a photo of the window, so if you miss it, you may find it here, but right now, I've got to go, it's time for the sunset at Red Bank Battlefield.

Happy Trails!
Jo Ann

Birthday Cake, Desserts for any Occasion

On Friday, our Riverton Writer's Group met.  The group has been active for more than 35 years.  I have been a member for about 15 of them.  Of the original founders, one had published a World War II memoir, she had been a nurse in the Pacific, one had been a professor at Rugers in the English Department, and of the current members, one had been a newspaper reporter, one had over 100 essays (paid for) published, and probably close to 150 published in all.  She also has a flourishing business as a storyteller in the South Jersey area.  At present, she has been composing a variety of programs based on Colonial happening and people such Benedict Arnold, Hamilton, and Betsy Ross.  One is a renowned local poet, and I have independently published two novels and won a poetry prize and had my some poems published in the Mad Poets Annual Poetry Review.  I don't write poetry anymore but I still appreciate it and our poet, Tom Clapham is celebrating a birthday this month, so we were having a cake to honor him at our writing club meeting on July 1st.  We had another poet, Dan Maguire, who moved to Baltimore, and we have another writer who has published two or three books on Philadelphia, but health and his tour business kept him from our summer meeting.

I went to Desserts by esign, becasue I have bought things there before and they are excellent bakers and I like to support local businesses whenever I can. I bought a smal (feeds 6) carrot cake that was just exquisite and very reasonable.  It had a small bouquet of blue and yellow pansies scrolled inincing on top with the birthday message and the cream cheese icing was encrusted with toasted coconut.  The cake was flavorful, moist and utterly mouthwateringly delicious, so I wanted to let you know about this little bakery in case you are looking for pastry or a birthday cak.  It is located at 105 West Merchant Street, Audubon, NJ 08106, phone number 856-310-0044.  

There are a few summer birthdays I like to celebrate by sending gifts to good animal charities such as Best Friends, PETA, Greenpeace, and especially Alley Cat Allies.  If you have reached the age where you are paring down and de-cluttering the accumulatins of a lifetime, the last thing you need is a half dozen more objects for your birthday, even if they are chosen with affection and thought, but a donation to a charity is a doubly useful gift, it shows you care, and it helps those who need your help the most.

In my Weight Watcher Meeting, a week ago, we talked about de-cluttering, and the current Goodwill expose' and scandal, so I wanted to mention the Seeds of Hope charity in the Brooklawn shopping center.  It is around the corner that houses PetSo. on the far side of the strip mall from Shop Rite.  They furnish homes for the needy and they clothe the homeless and help homeless shelters in Camden.  

Happy 4th of July, and if you are traveling I hope you have safe travels and clear highways!  Happy Trails, Jo Ann