Events at Whittall House, Red Bank Battlefield, National Park, NJ

May 7, 12:00-4:00pm
Colonial Tea & Gardens
Admission is $10 per person. Reservations must be made by calling (856) 307-6456.

May 20, 10:00-4:00pm
Archeology Day at the Whitall House and Red Bank Battlefield Park Co-Sponsored by the
Gloucester County Chapter of the Archaeological Society of New Jersey

June 18, 12:00-4:00pm
Annual Flower Show

June 21, 6:30-8:30pm
Community Read and Discussion of John McPhee's The Founding Fish at the West Deptford Public Library

June 24, 12:00-4:00 pm
The "Founding Fish": Shad at Red Bank, Yesterday and Today

July 16, 12:00-4:00 pm
Myth & Memory at the Whitall House and Red Bank Battlefield Walking Tour

August 20, 12:00-4:00 pm
Writing with the Whitalls Tour

September 17, 12:00-4:00 pm
The Augusta at Red Bank Walking Tour

October 22, 10:00-4:00 pm
18th-Century Field Day- If you have never been to Red Bank Battlefield for this event, don't miss it!

October 28, 12:00-4:00 pm
Fall Festival & Children's Haunted House

December 8, 6:00-9:00 pm & December 9, 3:00-9:00 pm Holiday Candlelight Tours


Mark Your Calendar Continued

Spirit of the Jerseys, State History Fair at Monmouth Battlefield State Park May 13.

America's Pirates and Their Hidden Treasure, May 7 at 2 pm, at Corson Poley Center of Burlington County Historical Society, 457 High St., $5 per person, Call 609-385-4773 ext.1 to reserve your spot to hear the author of the above named book speak on this topic.

Atsion Mansion is open for tours again, on Saturdays.  You'll have to look this one up, I don't know for sure who to call or the phone number.

Food Truck Festival at the New Jersey Motorsport Park in Millville May 6 njmp.com

Like Rocks and Minerals (who doesn't!) Cape Atlantic Rock Hounds Spring Show, May 20 and 21 at Rock Hounds Club House, Mays Landing  CapeAtlanticRockHOunds.com FREE!!
rocks, minerals, fossils, gems, crystals, jewelry and more

May Fair in Collingwood, May 27 & 28 10-5, collingswood.com

Gloucester County Water Fest, June 5 11a.m. to 4 p.m. Scotland Run Park in Clayton, gloucestercountynj.gov

Renaissance Faire, Liberty Lake, Bordentown, May 27, 28, njrenfaire.com

That's all for today folks! Now don't let me hear you say there's nothing to do!  Hope to see you at one or another or several of these events!  
Happy Trails,
Jo Ann

Mark your Calendar! Upcoming Events Spr. Smr. 2017

Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival Labor Day weekend Sept. 1-3, Salem County Fairgrounds in Woodstown,Nj, www.delawarevalleybluegrass.org

Pitman Spring Craft Fair, May 20 9 a.m. to 4:00

Markheim Art Center May 12 7 pm to 9 pm Flower Power
markeimartcenter.org

Studio Artists Tour throughout Salem County May 20 and 21 10-5
artsinbloomnj.com

Gotta run, more later!
Happy Trails - Jo Ann

Another thought regarding The Lost City of Z, and The Lost City of the Monkey God

It is astounding to think that cities the equal (as archealogy is now revealing) of ancient Greece and Rome existed from the Amazon basic in South American, up through Central America and Mexico, and that some mysterious blight struck them and caused the survivors to return to the jungle from which they had emerged centuries if not millennia earlier.  So mysterious.  Was it climate? Volcanic dust clouds? Chicxalub asteroid hit? Disease? Drought?  What could have happened to them over such a large expanse of territory?  The cities were abandoned, not destroyed, as though they were somehow cursed or poisoned.

Movie Review: The Lost City of Z

Just saw The Lost City of Z, to whch I had looked forward with great anticipation.  Having read The Lost City of the Monkey God, I had great hopes for The Lost City of Z.  It was a good movie in a kind of slow and dreamy way, but I enjoyed it though I wouldn't say it was great.  It was a teensy bit stuffy.

We had lunch at Bankok City, Eagle Plaza, Voorhees (across from the movie theater lot) which is never disappointing, the serene atmosphere and the fresh and delicious food is consistent and so is the courteous and non-intrusive service of the wait staff.  They are friendly and quick and attentive but do not try to engage in long conversations as happens in some places.  The atmosphere is very calming.  The lunch special is an appetizer, soup or salad, and the main dish for $9.  The spring rolls are the best I've had since I moved from Philadelphia.  I used to go to a restaurant there, Saigon City, on Washington Street (below South) and their spring rolls are the best ever, but Bankok is almost as good.)

I couldn't help comparing the fight of the American Indians whose land is being encroached on by the pipeline in the Dakotas with the enslavement and land grabs inflicted on the indigenous people of South America.  

Having World War I thrust into the movie also increased my feeling that life itself is often a struggle for resources.  Creatures including humans always guarding territory or invading territory, even plants, when it comes down to it.  Look at kudzu or even the ubiquitous English Ivy.  Nonetheless, amidst all the struggle there is always beauty, and shafts of sunlight through the leaves, and the occasional acts of kindness.

I highly recommend The Lost City of the Monkey God - also a true story, and a current event.

Happy Trails!
Jo Ann

New Post - The means of production return to the people - Independent publishing.

Yesterday I read in a news magazine, This Week, that in 2015, 300,00 books were published by corporate publishing companies, but 700,00 were independently published!!!  It struck me that the new way that individual were taking back the means of production from the Big Business, through independent enterprise are all around us.  My daughter has an air-b&b room in Brooklyn and hipsters from Europe who want to live amongst the bohemians of 2017, come there to stay rather than an overpriced hotel.  

And when a friend went with me to the train station to pick up my daughter recently, we were laughing and admiring a guy who looked like Charlie Chaplin who was lovingly polishing every inch of his BMW Uber taxi.  So there is Uber, Lyft, Air-B&B an my independently published memoir surfing the new wave.

If you remember Future Shock, and Mega Trends, I always was interested in the books that talked about the waves of the future, and now I am seeing the ones I have read about in my own life.  Even this blog is part of the trend towards individual power.  I didn't need to get hired by a newspaper or a magazine to speak on things of interest.  Blogspot empowered me to find and fill my own niche.  

Happy Trails!  whether in the woods, the park, or thought trails!

Went to Genealogy Lecture at Camden County Historical Center yesterday, 4/23/17

I with I had been able to her the lecture some years ago when I was wandering around web sites and buying books and magazines as a beginner in family history.  It was very comprehensive on a middle level and helpful.

There were from 25 to 30 people present and I ran into an old pal from my volunteer days at the Whitall House, Red Bank Battlefield, Harry Schaeffer, who is also a Sons of American Liberty Member at Red Bank.  He is also doing the 10,000 steps app so we headed over to Knight Park, in Collingwood and got in another 5,000 steps.  I still only made it to 7,800.

Going to the lecture made me think of Joe Laufer and how he enriched so many lives in the Local History world.  He passed away a couple of years ago after holding many positions in the Burlington County History world.  The event that he hosted that I liked so much was the Burlington County Historians' Roundtable.

All the people from different historical sites met once a month at a different site in Burlington and at the start of each meeting these unofficial or official representatives would tell the group what was going on in their area.  It opened so many doors for me.  I visited places I would never have known about like the Red Dragon Canoe Club, and the Chesterfield Meeting House.  

Now I find I miss a lot of things I would have liked to attend because I don't know about them.  For example, Harry told me he had been to Gabriel DAveis Tavern the day before where they held an Black Powder encampment.  I missed that because I didn't know about it.  Heaven knows I try to keep up but there is no central posting like the Roundtable where you can find a listing of everything that's going on.  Next time I see Harry, I'll have to ask how he found out about the Daveis Tavern event.  

Good Walking weather so I hope you were outside in Nature on Earth Day!  I celebrated it with my best walking buddy, Trixie, at Knight Park where we go every day to visit the trees and the ponds, the birds and the beauty

Happy Trails!
Jo Ann

Genealogy at Camden County Historical Society - FREE!

If, like me, you are an on again, off again, Family History researcher, you may find yourself getting a good kick-start at Camden County Historical Society this Sunday, April 23 at 2:00.
Address:1900 Park Boulevard, Camden, NJ (I go straight down Haddon Avenue, through Collingwood, over Rt. 130, past Haleigh Cemetery, make a right at the corner light at Haleigh, go straight to the end and turn left - then there it is, Pomona Hall and CCHS. It is right behind Lady of Lourdes Hospital and a small neighborhood.)

For weeks, and months, I will work feverishly on genealogy, then the field goes fallow for a year or so.  Often what sparks my renewed interest is a lecture.  Once, it was the Ancestry.com convention in Philadelphia.  I got so fired up, I bought the dan kit and that started a whole flurry of family  history interest in my friends, a few of whom also bought the kit and did the test.

By the way, I love ancestry.com.  All the features are fabulous and really speed up your search and when you record all your findings, your work is saved even if you take a break from membership, because holding onto the data is a bonus resource for continuing members.  And whenever you return, you find hints! Ancestry.com has found things that may or may not be connections for you.  

Another thing that always got me back into the family history work was when I attended the Genealogical Society of Salem County lectures at Friends Village near Woodstown. I used to be a regular but my deteriorating vision due to Fuch's dystrophy (a cornea condition) made night driving too hazardous.  But now that the president of the GSSC is head librarian at Camden County Historical Society, I am hoping that her boundless enthusiasm will bring a re-birth to the programming there.  Since it is close and daytime, I will be attending this Sunday, for sure.

Advice from a tree:

Stand straight and tall,
drink lots of water
Always remember your roots!

Happy Trails, whether in the woods or in the research library!
Jo Ann 

Lunch at the Blue Plate and visit to Red Mill Antiques

Mulch Hill is always a delightful place to spend a day.  My friend Gail, and I went to the Blue Plate for lunch, right on the Main street through Mullica Hill.  She had a very good grilled cheese with peppers and onions on pumpernickel bread, and I had a very interesting, and to my taste, delicious quiche.  It was green!  I forget all the things it had in it but peas were in it.  It was very spring-like in appearance and taste, and the side was a caesar salad - PERFECT!

Next we meandered over to the Red Mill Antiques and had a friendly conversation with a nice young man who showed us the strangest sewing machine I have ever seen.  Originally, he bought it for the base, to make a table, but he was so intrigued by the sewing machine itself, that he left it intact.  Instead of the wasp waist body that most of the machines I have ever seen had, this one had a half circle bridge like shape.  I suggested that perhaps it was a specialist machine for something that had a wide side.  I had never thought of that before, but I am sure there were sewing machines made specifically for particular tasks and material.  Something new to learn and look into.  

We noticed there were fewer shops than there used to be, and we had heard that antiques and country style were out of fashion.  The young man at the Red Mill, said there had been a drop and the market hit bottom, but they it was making a slow and gradual rise.

When I got home, I looked it up and The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and several other economy oriented web sites said that indeed, antiques were out of fashion and they cited two reasons for it.  One, boomers (of which I am one) are downsizing and often moving into condominiums and don't want too much stuff or big furniture.  And younger people are living in apartments and are more fond of "Mad Men" style 1950's modern furniture for its simplicity and light weight.  

I like 1950's furniture too, and when I was very young, I was in love with Scandinavian Modern, my parents bought me a beautiful bedroom set in that style, and I still have the cedar chest that they bought for my graduation from high school, that matched it.  They were so kind to me and so generous and what a contrast to their own hard childhoods, both of them born in the 1920's and growing up in the depression.

When my father was a boy, he swept and cleaned up for the local butcher shop in south Philadelphia, where both sides of my parents families had their long roots.  One Christmas the butcher bought him a pair of skates.  He was telling me because he said it was the best gift he ever remembered..  They were so poor, they picked coal from the railroad tracks on Front Street, where the trains would rumble along the waterfront and coal fell off the coal cars.  

As long as I knew my parents, from 1945 to their deaths, my mother in 2000 and my father in 2011, they were prosperous and comfortable, due to my father's strong work ethic and my mother's homemaking gifts.  Bounteous is the word I would use to describe their lifestyle, not ostentatious or showy, but bountiful and generous.  

I hope the taste for antiques picks up again but those old objects tell us so much about the past and the lives of the people before us.  I am working on a scrapbook that combines photos of my ancestors with the objects that I have that are left from them, Great-grandmother Catherine Sandman's sewing machine with which she supported her family in her widowhood.  Grandfather Young's deck chair from his years in the Merchant Marines, and so many other not money valuable objects, but things that were touched by hands long gone.

One of my favorites i my own old Easter basket, the reeds are coming apart at the top and the handle is broken but I love it and keep it and it reminds me of the bounty of the Easter Bunny from 1945 to the present and the joys of spring.

Happy Easter and Happy Spring!
Jo Ann

Time to visit Duffy's for Easter Bunnies

Well, it is time to visit Duffy's Chocolates in Gloucester City, on Broadway, near Hudson Street.

For 30 years I have bought chocolate bunnies and eggs with my siblings and daughters, nephews and nieces names on them there. In fact, today, I will be stopping at Duffy's and then Verccio's on the Brooklawn circle for porch flowers and hanging plants.  

Duffy's is an institution in these parts.  You could get drunk on the smell of the chocolate, all items made on the premises in this old traditional family store.  The closer to Easter, though, the better the chance you'll wait in a line - it is a very popular shop.

I hope you stop in, it will take you back in time.

Whenever I go to Verccio's I am struck by the overwhelming bounty of our land, especially New Jersey, which though the new crop seems to be housing developments, is still a garden state.  They have the BEST prices on produce, if you can buy in quantity, which I can't being unable to use the amounts in the units they sell, and the best prices on plants in season.  For several years I have bought the most exuberant ferns imaginable there for $10, for my porch.  I am very fond of ferns.

Happy Easter!
Here comes Peter Cottontail, Hopping down the Bunny TRAIL!
Jo Ann

Bricks and EAL

When I came home today after a delightful walk amongst the yellow flowers that border the old mill run at Haddon Heights Park, after dropping off two books at the Free Little Library and taking one away, I found the newest issue of Early American Life Magazine in my mailbox!

I love this magazine for so many reasons.  Today was a special issue because it held an article with a photo of a house I adore, the Abel Nicholson House, in Salem County, NJ.  I have been out there many times to visit the house which is very very hard to find.  It is off Fort Elfsborg Road and I only know it by a patch of dirt on the side of a small unmarked dirt road.  You can find a HABS photo of it at the Library Congress, American Memory site.

At times when I have visited the house, I have waded through puddles on the flooded road to the house that were as deep as my knees!  I had to take off my shoes and socks and roll up my pants and wade through hoping not to encounter snakes, or broken glass.  

The article in which the photos of the house appear was about brick making in the Colonial period, a subject with which I was once obsessed.  When I worked as a volunteer at Gloucester County Historical Society, I researched around and found a tiny beautiful little book on brick-making in New Jersey.  There are no words to express the deep warmth, respect, and gratitude that floods my heart when I come across the work of these often forgotten and obscure historians who have researched and written about these topics which are, in fact, vitally important to understanding the world we live in.  

Having been born the daughter of a craftsman of many talents, my father, Joseph Wright, who was a hobby stained glass artist, a carpenter of much skill, who made beautiful pieces of furniture and who re-built a burned out historic home, and when he retired, built his own house on a hill in West Virginia.  I have always had sincere appreciation for the man-made or woman-made object, whether a house, a quilt, a carving, a painting, or a brick!

The June 2017 issue of Early American Life has a fabulous essay on the art of brick-making along with the aforementioned photo of the Abel Nicholson House in Salem.  It is well worth buying and reading.  I have a subscription and I have enjoyed it for many years, whether for Christmas ideas, or gardening, recipes or building, and I  very much enjoy the essays on the restoration work that people have done on early houses.

There is also a great essay on canals.  Anyone who has ever hiked along the many canals accessible to those of us who live in the middle of New Jersey, will find this article of interest.  Somewhere back in my 400 odd entries there is a blog post on the headquarters and museum of the D&R Canal, which a friend and I explored and found one summer day trip.  

A long long time ago, another friend and I ice skated on the Delaware Canal up near Belle Meade, which is not far from Princeton.  She was an art school friend of mine, a gifted painter who now lives in California.  We used to get together in the summers from time to time to make paper.  She had a nice stone patio overlooking the meadow, and a very sturdy press.  She gave me a book made of hand-made paper once for a birthday gift, which I treasure.  Paper is another of those old-time basics that were once man and woman-made.  And I will close with a little rhyme on that subject:

rag make paper
paper makes money
money makes bankers
bankers make paupers
paupers make rags

Happy Trails!
Jo Ann

ps.  The old myth that houses were made of bricks carried in ships from England as ballast is untrue.  Only expensive and valuable goods were worth carrying across the Atlantic, and most brick houses were made right on the property being built, because as you know, New Jersey is made of clay and sand.

Colonial Re-enactment at Gabreil Daveis Tavern Apr. 22 & 23

Attended the opening of the World War I exhibit at Camden County Historical Society today and enjoyed a lively conversation with their curator of objects, Josh, as well as the always lovely and charming Bonny Beth Elwell.  She is a remarkable young woman, so warm and friendly to everyone and so knowledgeable as well as dedicated to the history and genealogy world.  I am delighted that she is at Camden County Historical Society now and I may even do a bit of volunteering there again.

Their new booklet is out, the Volume 1, Issue 2 all on military with a great deal of material supplied by the very many historical societies in Camden County.  It was more than I ever knew existed. And the information is fascinating, though often sad.  I read the memorials to each of the young men from my own town who had given their lives and it made me cry to think of them, so young, smiling in their photographs, and dead before they had a chance to live.  Also, to think of the pain their families experienced.

We have been so lucky in my family.  Men in each generation served and all the men survived.  My brother survived Vietnam, my father survived World War II and so did his brother, Clyde.  My Grandfather Lyons survived World War I, and my Civil War ancestor, William C. Garwood survived, as did Hiram McQuiston, who was at Gettysburg, though not in the battle.  We even had Cheesman ancestors in the Revolutionary War and they all lived through it.  Lucky Lucky us.

One of the people I met is Robert Fishr Hughes who is head of both the Griffith Morgan House and the Burrough Dover House, in Pennsauken.  They have recently merged.  Both Houses are amazing and well worth a visit, check them out on Facebook for more information including directions and phone number.

I picked up a flyer for the COLONIAL RE-ENACTMENT at Gabreil Daveis Tavern and Spring Open House, Revolutionary Weekend April 22 & 23 from 9 to 5 on Saturday and 9 to 3 on Sunday, Rain or Shine!  Admission is free!
They have advertised:
Tavern Tours, American Legion Flag Ceremony and 21 gun salute, Artillery Demo, Archery, Tomahawk throwing, Campfire cooking, Blacksmithing, Weaving, Colonial Crafter, to name a few.
www.facebook.com/glotwphistory or 856-228-4000 X3249
The address is 4th Ave. and Floodgate Rd. Gender, Nj
(and I can tell you that if you drive East on the Black Horse Pike - I know it is South(?), anyhow towards the shore, keep your eyes open and on the left, beneath the number name street sign there is a slim sign naming the Gabreil Daveis Tavern.  I love that house!  Nice garden walk, and checkout the beautiful painting restored by the society that takes care of the house.  

Happy Trails,
Jo Ann

Little Free Library Movement

On my way to Haddon Lake Park today, I passed a "Free Little Library" on, I think, Sylvan Drive.  

For about 12 years I have been aware of the free book movement and back in 2006, when I still worked at the University of the Arts, I participated by putting free books in the Atrium of the old hall, of the building that used to be PCA (Philadelphia College of Art) and also on benches such as the one in the park nearby.  

At that time,you registered the free book online, and borrowers went online to post that they had borrowed it.  I don't think people bother with that anymore, but I have seen photos of the free little libraries before.  I never saw one in person however  

Now that I know it is there, I plan to go back and leave some books!  I would like to put one outside my house too, but I am afraid of vandalism.  Maybe I will be optimistic and give it a try!  What a wonderful idea!

Happy Trails!
Jo Ann

E-Mail on Mexico and WWI and more

This morning I sent my daughter, Lavinia,  an e-mail about our family and World War I.  Here is a copy of it:

Good morning Lavinia!  I wanted to share a little family history that merges with world history and I didn't feel like trying to fit it into a text.  Unlike Donald Trump, I am not as succinct as a tweet - I am more like Marcel Proust!  

Anyhow, I have a copy of a photo of your Grandmom Wright's adoptive father, whom I called Grandpop Lyons.  He wa a sweet, mild mannered man, kind to children and animals and he and I spent meaningful time in the side garden at the Lyons house on 10th Street when I was a child growing  up in Philadelphia.  He would go out there to smoke his home-rolled,  and I would keep him company as did the Irish setter, King

In the photo he is in uniform before a tent in a desert and it is 1917.  America has just entered World War I.  This month is the centennial of our entry in World War I.  Grandpop Lyons is on the border of Mexico, and I never understood what Mexico had to do with World War I.  After all, it was in Europe, right?  

But a year ago I took a 6 week night course in World War I, all these brilliant young men from prestigious colleges, had been invited to give lectures, each did an hour on some aspect of the war that they were experts on.  

In April of 1917, Great Britain had broken the the German code for messages between Germany and its ally Japan.  They broke the code on the Zimmerman telegram to Mexico in which the German foreign minister, Zimmerman, offered Mexico a deal  If Mexico joined Germany and Japan, they would give Mexico several border states, which I think included Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada. (not sure about the states on offer.)

So the U.S., outraged, mobilized and sent troops to the Mexican border, and one of them was my Grandfather Lyons, and your Great Grandfather.  Just imagine, a young skinny Irish postman in the desert on the Mexican border waiting for the War.  But Mexico wisely declined the offer.  

Love you, Mom

To blog post readers:

I also wanted to add a note about April 6th, yesterday.  Merle Haggard, one of country music's greats, was born on April 6 and died on April 6!  I was thinking about him yesterday because I had incorrectly attributed "King of the Road" to him.  It was actually written by Roger Miller.  

Merle was most famous for "Okie from Muskogee" - and the reason I was thinking of "King of the Road" was that I had met an elderly man in the parking lot at my gym yesterday, who was living in a camper van and traveling around.  I didn't stay out to talk long as it was drizzling and I had a gym work-out to get to, and he was getting back into the driver's seat of his van, but we talked a little about living on the road.  He told me he had outfitted the van for camping himself.  I told him I had lived in a van for a year in 1969.    

Another note:  Some time back, a few years, there was an Atlantic article about retired people choosing, in some cases, being forced, in some cases, to live on the road in campers, and living in RV parks or free camps around the country, sometimes doing seasonal work, for example before Christmas for amazon.com.  I wish I had talked to the King of the Road a little longer and gotten his story.  

My dad had bought a camper and wanted to travel around but by the time they got their new house built, they had entered a period of declining healthy, especially my mother, and weren't up to the rigors of it.  I think they made, tops half a dozen trips in the camper, and it sat in the yard and rotted until my father died and the family gave it away to whoever would come up on the hill and haul it off.  

Courier Post, Wed., Apr.5, 2017 Glover's Mill, & Camden County Historical Society Exhibit

Fortunately, today, a hiking buddy told me that there was a great article about Glover's Fulling Mill on the front page of the Courier. I don't get the daily, only the Sunday edition, so I would have missed it.

We had walked around Knight Park, but still felt like enjoying the most splendid spring weather that we had today, so we headed over to Haddon Lake Park and walked from the cannon on Station Ave.(?) to the Dell and back.  

The friend who had read the article in the Courier wanted to see the new signage about the mill, but I was perplexed, because the utility lot that had been where the mill used to be was gone, replaced by a new housing development.  

After the walk, on a hunch, we drove down the main street of the housing development and at the end of the street we found the signage and the location of the fenced site where the mill once stood.

The Courier article was very good, and in the same issue there was an excellent article on World War I, because of the anniversary of our entry into that war, so this is a good time to remind you that Camden County Historical Society will open its new exhibit on Camden County in World War I on April 9, Sunday from 1 to 3.  There is a $5 charge if you are not a member.  This will include a tour of Pomona Hall and the rest of the museum.  What an enlightening day!

If you are looking for things to do, have lunch at Local Links or Station House Cafe, then take a hike around Haddon Lake Park!  Check out the gorgeous carpet of yellow flowers while they are still blooming!  Then, on Sunday, drive on over to 1900 Park Boulevard in Camden and see the exhibit.  I drive down Haddon Ave., after Haleigh Cemetery, turn right to the end, then left and there it is - Pomona Hall and Camden County Historical Society  There are always interesting things to do around here!
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann

Walking the Local Parks in Spring

I am getting into a 21 day fitness strategy!  I am reading a Steve Siebold Fitness book and both he and an article I read recently in a periodical advise that it takes 21 to 30 days to replace an old bad habit with a new good one.  Steve Siebold is a motivational writer who puts the focus on your thinking rather than on diet or exercise. He works with your will.

"Life is not wasted on me," is something I like to say in gratitude for the life that has been given to me.  And because I enjoy life so much, I would like to live as long as I can as well as I can.  My father lived to 89, on his own, with help from my sister MaryAnn in West Virginia.  It is true the air quality is better there and the life is slower.

His mother, my grandmother Mabel, also lived to 89, but she too lived in a more healthful environment, Ocean City, NJ.  Here I am in Camden County beneath the smoke stack of the trash to steam plant, and bordered by 42, 130, and 168 with all that exhaust poisoning the air, so I am at a disadvantage.

However, my mother's mother lived to be 89, and she lived in Philadelphia, but not in good health.  Both grandmothers ended up in nursing homes for the last 2 years of their lives, not a welcome option no matter how nice the place may appear.  

On the down side, my mother had her first heart attack at my age, and was dead 5 years later from a stroke, so depending on much a part genetics will play in my cardiovascular system, it's a crap shoot.

Nonetheless, I do what I can as long as I can.  Frequently, I fall off the good lifestyle I have tried to keep for most of my adult life.  I have smoked under stressful situations, but am not smoking now and have had long long periods with no smoking - my daughter's entire 18 years at home (to be a good example).  For most of 45 years I have been predominantly a vegetarian.  For a period while I was raising my daughter I ate chicken and tuna, being afraid to keep a diet when she was growing up, that was too far off the one I grew up with.  And I walk every day and have for most of my adult life.  My daughter is a vegetarian now too.

For most of the past 40 years, I have walked in the parks in Collingwood, and Audubon, and Haddon Heights.  A part of my 21 day plan now, to correct for so many lost walking days due to weather excused laziness, I am doing two or three walks a day.  Today I walked in Knight Park, where I walk everyday.  And I added two loops at Haddon Heights Park, where the most gorgeous ground cover of butter yellow flowers was in bloom.  It was a carpet of sunny cheer and optimism!  I parked at the lot just across from the Dell, and walked the Dell loop, and the loop that ends with the cannons.  

If you can at all get there while those yellow flowers are in bloom, you should.  All of us walking there today, with our dogs or our earphones and fitness apps, were enchanted!

In case you are interested, I am also eating a banana a day, staying off coffee completely (for my heart) and eating a salad every day for one meal.  And I am back at the gym, Planet Fitness in Brooklawn Shopping Center.  It is very inexpensive and has all you could ask for (unless you want to swim, in which case you must go to Barrington Royal Courts which has a great salt water pool.)

Spring is a good time to get busy at getting fit! And the parks are a good option during tick season (right now).
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann