April 4 - 8, 2018, Edison NJ www.NJ.show
Featuring Titanoboa, the 48 ft monster snake from the Smithsonian Institution, Dinosaur Skeletons, Glow in th dark UV minerals, Trilobite treasures and activities for children AND 400 Display booths with crystals, emeralds, gold, silver, and many other natural history wonders.
A FREE dinosaur bone specimen for every child!
This advert comes from the April 2018 Smithsonnian and if my eye sight were better and my car newer, I would def. go and enjoy this event, but that is not the case, so all I can do is forward the info and hope that YOU will go and enjoy it.
Happy Trails,
Jo Ann
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Saturday, March 24, 2018
AUW sponsors Storyteller Dorothy Stanaitis at Woodstown Friends Meeting Today
Today at noon, the Association of University Women held their Tea at Woodstown Friends Meeting followed by Storyteller Dorothy Stanaitis presentation "Immigrant Girls" which was well received.
Dorothy is a spellbinding storyteller and everyone enjoyed her story featured three immigrant women from Lebanon, Lithuania, and England. Several of the women present remembered Mrs. Stanaitis from her days as Program Director at the Gloucester City Library and also from her work at various other venues.
It was such a glorious day to be out and a lovely drive from Gloucester City to Woodstown. The women from the AUW were lovely people and it was delightful to meet them and share the day.
There was a concert series at Woodstown Friends, two remaining concerts you might be interested in attending:
The Gabriels (Jazz Quartet) Sunay, April 22, 2018 at 7:00 pm
Woods town High School Choir Tuesday, May 22 at 7:00 pm
Woods town Friends is 104 Main St., Woodstown, NJ
www.musicatfriends.org
free, and plenty of parking available
Dorothy is a spellbinding storyteller and everyone enjoyed her story featured three immigrant women from Lebanon, Lithuania, and England. Several of the women present remembered Mrs. Stanaitis from her days as Program Director at the Gloucester City Library and also from her work at various other venues.
It was such a glorious day to be out and a lovely drive from Gloucester City to Woodstown. The women from the AUW were lovely people and it was delightful to meet them and share the day.
There was a concert series at Woodstown Friends, two remaining concerts you might be interested in attending:
The Gabriels (Jazz Quartet) Sunay, April 22, 2018 at 7:00 pm
Woods town High School Choir Tuesday, May 22 at 7:00 pm
Woods town Friends is 104 Main St., Woodstown, NJ
www.musicatfriends.org
free, and plenty of parking available
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Chair Yoga
Chair Yoga in Cherry Hill or Haddon Twp.
Camden County Board of Freeholders is offering one hour classes FREE in chair yoga. If like me, you have knee problems, you might want to try Chair Yoga. I have taken Yoga many times beginning in the 1970's when Cherry Hill High School offered night classes, again in the 1990's at Lady of Lourdes in Collingswood, and most recently at Collingswood Community Center, and Barrington Gym - Royal Fitness. All of them cost money, and this series is FREE! So why not give it a try. I have found yoga to be immensely helpful not only in flexibility in your body, but also in calming the mind. I missed not being able to do it anymore but I can't kneel, lunge, or squat due to cartilage loss in one knee and torn meniscus in the other and probably arthritis in both. Classes begin Monday March 26 and continue on Mondays through May. What an opportunity!
To reserve your spot call 856-858-2986 Tom Castellano or email tom.castellano@camdencounty.com
Classes are Mondays at 1:00 at William J. Rohrer Memorial Library, 15 MacArthur Blv.
For Cherry Hill clases, mostly on Wednesdays, at the Municipal Bldg. 820 Mercer St. also at 1:00 call 856-488-7868 or email recreation@chtownship.com
The classes are suitable for all experience levels.
I try to stay fit by going to the gym 3 to 4 times a week, and walking most days, but I was just lamenting to my gym buddy last week that I needed more stretching in my routine and I don't have the personal discipline to do it on my own, I need a group and an appointment to get it done.
Hope you are keeping fit so you can enjoy all the places to go and things to do in South Jersey - speaking of which:
This Saturday, March 24, Dorothy Stanaitis will be doing a program on Immigrant Girls at the Woodstown Friends Meeting House, Main Street, Woodstown. She has already registered me, so I don't have the number there but I am sure you can find it if you are interested. There is a tea at noon followed by the presentation at 1:00.
Book Recommendation for History Buffs: BEHEMOTH: A History of the Factory and the Making of the Modern World by Joshua Freeman. Getting great reviews. I haven't bought it yet - I have a stack of books to et through before I buy any more, but I will get it eventually. Ever work in a factory? I did one summer while working my way through college. It was an experience. It was at Alchester Mills in Camden, Nj.
Camden County Board of Freeholders is offering one hour classes FREE in chair yoga. If like me, you have knee problems, you might want to try Chair Yoga. I have taken Yoga many times beginning in the 1970's when Cherry Hill High School offered night classes, again in the 1990's at Lady of Lourdes in Collingswood, and most recently at Collingswood Community Center, and Barrington Gym - Royal Fitness. All of them cost money, and this series is FREE! So why not give it a try. I have found yoga to be immensely helpful not only in flexibility in your body, but also in calming the mind. I missed not being able to do it anymore but I can't kneel, lunge, or squat due to cartilage loss in one knee and torn meniscus in the other and probably arthritis in both. Classes begin Monday March 26 and continue on Mondays through May. What an opportunity!
To reserve your spot call 856-858-2986 Tom Castellano or email tom.castellano@camdencounty.com
Classes are Mondays at 1:00 at William J. Rohrer Memorial Library, 15 MacArthur Blv.
For Cherry Hill clases, mostly on Wednesdays, at the Municipal Bldg. 820 Mercer St. also at 1:00 call 856-488-7868 or email recreation@chtownship.com
The classes are suitable for all experience levels.
I try to stay fit by going to the gym 3 to 4 times a week, and walking most days, but I was just lamenting to my gym buddy last week that I needed more stretching in my routine and I don't have the personal discipline to do it on my own, I need a group and an appointment to get it done.
Hope you are keeping fit so you can enjoy all the places to go and things to do in South Jersey - speaking of which:
This Saturday, March 24, Dorothy Stanaitis will be doing a program on Immigrant Girls at the Woodstown Friends Meeting House, Main Street, Woodstown. She has already registered me, so I don't have the number there but I am sure you can find it if you are interested. There is a tea at noon followed by the presentation at 1:00.
Book Recommendation for History Buffs: BEHEMOTH: A History of the Factory and the Making of the Modern World by Joshua Freeman. Getting great reviews. I haven't bought it yet - I have a stack of books to et through before I buy any more, but I will get it eventually. Ever work in a factory? I did one summer while working my way through college. It was an experience. It was at Alchester Mills in Camden, Nj.
Saturday, March 17, 2018
New Jersey Folk Revival Music, Book Lecture Michael Gabriele at Cam. Co. Hist. Soc. Mar.25
Camden County Historical Society Hosts Program on New Jersey Folk Revival Music
The Camden County Historical Society will host author Michael Gabriele for a presentation about his book “New Jersey Folk Revival Music – History and Tradition” on Sunday, March 25 at 2 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Gabriele’s book—190 pages with over 80 photos—provides a narrative on the evolution, traditions and history of folk revival music throughout New Jersey. The program will feature information on the legendary Victor Talking Machine Company in Camden, where Woody Guthrie, Cecil Sharp, Paul Robeson, Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family all recorded their monumental first commercial albums.
The story begins in the colonial days of bawdy tavern revelers and fiddle players in the 1700s and moves to the music and folklore from the Garden State’s Pine Barrens; to advent of the “Guitar Mania” phenomenon in the mid-1800s; to the New Jersey activities of legendary artists such as Paul Robeson, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan throughout the 20th century; to the achievements of world-class New Jersey musicians.
Folk revival music is a “living history” that builds upon time-honored traditions, which date back more than 300 years. The book documents the Garden State’s vast contributions to this musical genre and examines the effects of folk revival music on local history and culture, as well as how it has changed lives—those on stage and those in the audience.
This is Gabriele’s third book on Garden State history published by Arcadia Publishing/The History Press. A lifelong New Jersey resident, he’s a 1975 graduate of Montclair State University and has worked as a journalist and freelance writer for four decades. Gabriele is a member of the executive board of the Nutley Historical Society and serves on the advisory board of the Clifton Arts Center. Gabriele will have copies of his books available for sale.
The Camden County Historical Society is located at 1900 Park Boulevard, Camden NJ 08103. The site includes the Hineline Research Library, Historic Pomona Hall, Cultural Heritage Center & Gallery, African American History Room, and Camden County Museum, and is regularly open Wednesday to Friday from 10am to 4:30pm and Sunday 12-3pm, with a $5 admission fee for nonmembers. For more information, please call 856-964-3333, email admin@cchsnj.org, or visit the society’s website at www.cchsnj.org.
--Bonny Beth Elwell
Library Director
Camden County Historical Society
1900 Park Blvd
Camden NJ 08103
856.964.3333
Camden County Historical Society
1900 Park Blvd
Camden NJ 08103
856.964.3333
Friday, March 16, 2018
Ocean City Historical Society Museum
Today, an adventure pal and I set off down the Black Horse Pike, then 559 (my favorite stretch of backroad in South Jersey, to Somers Point for lunch at the diner, followed by a visit to the O.C.H.S. Museum in the Library Community Center Complex on 17th Street.
After admiring the absolutely gorgeous white Easter dresses of the turn of the century and the many other items of interest, not least of which where the switchboard and collection of telephones, I found a beautiful postcard of the Sindia and the mast on the beach that I remembered from my own childhood. The Sindia went aground in December of 1901. Many households in Ocean City had collections of ceramics from the cargo which washed ashore in crates and was retrieved by the citizens. A good deal of it is in the Ocean City Museum collection now.
When I was a child, a portion of the mast was still visible sticking up about 8 or 10 feet from the sand down the 17th Street end of the beach. Sea life always held a place of mystery and fascination in my imagination, not least because of that mast and the ship buried beneath the sand, but also because of Scott Storage, next door to my Grandmother' house on Asbury Avenue. There were many ships mastheads and other paraphernalia in storage there, ships' wheels, for example. And I had been the kind of child who read voraciously from the treasure my mother made available to me of classics like Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe.
Also, you may recall a tv series called Adventures in Paradise that ran from 1959 to 1962, starring Gardner McKay as a sailboat captain who went from island to island in the Pacific solving crimes and ferrying mysterious clients. I was in love with him!
Today, Friday, March 16, 2018, the main exhibit was beautiful and unimaginably intricate Easter dresses from the Victorian period. The more you know, the more interesting thing are, and so, knowing that my grandmother (the one who lived in Ocean City) and her mother made a living as seamstresses, has always made clothing more interesting to me than its uses. I used to make all my own clothes at one time. My great-grandmother was listed in the census as a dressmaker when she was 16, in an age when all clothes were made by individual people.
The cutwork and beading and detailing of those Victorian dresses spoke to the eye straining, backbreaking labor of immigrant women who worked from sunrise to dark, seven days a week, to eek out a pittance to let them live on. Still, the dresses are a monument to their effort and creativity, as well as to the confinements and hampered lives of women of that time. Those corsets - that delicacy of cloth, a woman could hardly move!
From the museum, through the library! I found a book, Scenic road trips through New Jersey, on the sale shelf for $1. What a bargain!
But again, I had to marvel at how little is ever said about South Jersey other than the seashore. Has no one ever heard of Greenwich, Bridgeton, Salem? Still, it is a pretty book.
1735 Simpson Avenue, Ocean City 609-399-1801 is the address and phone number of the O.C.H.S.Museum
and the staff wants you to know about:
SUNDAY BRUNCH BUFFET
Historic Houses of Ocean City
fundraiser
April 15, 2018 12:30 Clancy's by the Bay, Somers Point, NJ, Tickets $25
I find this time of year especially enjoyable at the seashore - no traffic, free parking right at the foot of the boardwalk at 9th Street, and I am not a beach person, so the cold doesn't bother me. Today was sunny and bright and delightful!
I bought 2 postcards in the gift shop, one of the ship, the Sindia, and one of Fralinger's Salt Water Taffy to send my brother in West Virginia in honor of our shared childhood at Grandmom's in Ocean City, NJ. Also, Grandmom's brother, Yock, used to work at the postoffice and any post cards that came in with postage but no addresses, he would put our address (in Philadelphia) on it so we got mysterious greetings from total strangers all the time! He was a prankster as well as a postal employee.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
After admiring the absolutely gorgeous white Easter dresses of the turn of the century and the many other items of interest, not least of which where the switchboard and collection of telephones, I found a beautiful postcard of the Sindia and the mast on the beach that I remembered from my own childhood. The Sindia went aground in December of 1901. Many households in Ocean City had collections of ceramics from the cargo which washed ashore in crates and was retrieved by the citizens. A good deal of it is in the Ocean City Museum collection now.
When I was a child, a portion of the mast was still visible sticking up about 8 or 10 feet from the sand down the 17th Street end of the beach. Sea life always held a place of mystery and fascination in my imagination, not least because of that mast and the ship buried beneath the sand, but also because of Scott Storage, next door to my Grandmother' house on Asbury Avenue. There were many ships mastheads and other paraphernalia in storage there, ships' wheels, for example. And I had been the kind of child who read voraciously from the treasure my mother made available to me of classics like Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe.
Also, you may recall a tv series called Adventures in Paradise that ran from 1959 to 1962, starring Gardner McKay as a sailboat captain who went from island to island in the Pacific solving crimes and ferrying mysterious clients. I was in love with him!
Today, Friday, March 16, 2018, the main exhibit was beautiful and unimaginably intricate Easter dresses from the Victorian period. The more you know, the more interesting thing are, and so, knowing that my grandmother (the one who lived in Ocean City) and her mother made a living as seamstresses, has always made clothing more interesting to me than its uses. I used to make all my own clothes at one time. My great-grandmother was listed in the census as a dressmaker when she was 16, in an age when all clothes were made by individual people.
The cutwork and beading and detailing of those Victorian dresses spoke to the eye straining, backbreaking labor of immigrant women who worked from sunrise to dark, seven days a week, to eek out a pittance to let them live on. Still, the dresses are a monument to their effort and creativity, as well as to the confinements and hampered lives of women of that time. Those corsets - that delicacy of cloth, a woman could hardly move!
From the museum, through the library! I found a book, Scenic road trips through New Jersey, on the sale shelf for $1. What a bargain!
But again, I had to marvel at how little is ever said about South Jersey other than the seashore. Has no one ever heard of Greenwich, Bridgeton, Salem? Still, it is a pretty book.
1735 Simpson Avenue, Ocean City 609-399-1801 is the address and phone number of the O.C.H.S.Museum
and the staff wants you to know about:
SUNDAY BRUNCH BUFFET
Historic Houses of Ocean City
fundraiser
April 15, 2018 12:30 Clancy's by the Bay, Somers Point, NJ, Tickets $25
I find this time of year especially enjoyable at the seashore - no traffic, free parking right at the foot of the boardwalk at 9th Street, and I am not a beach person, so the cold doesn't bother me. Today was sunny and bright and delightful!
I bought 2 postcards in the gift shop, one of the ship, the Sindia, and one of Fralinger's Salt Water Taffy to send my brother in West Virginia in honor of our shared childhood at Grandmom's in Ocean City, NJ. Also, Grandmom's brother, Yock, used to work at the postoffice and any post cards that came in with postage but no addresses, he would put our address (in Philadelphia) on it so we got mysterious greetings from total strangers all the time! He was a prankster as well as a postal employee.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Lines on the Pines was Wonderful!
Held at Stockton State College (or University as I think it is now designated), Lines on the Pines was wonderful as always. There was music, art (Al Horner was there with his gorgeous Pinelands photographs), basket weaving spinning, twig and vine creations - chairs and plant holders, benches and so on, and there were many animal exhibitions involving service dogs of various types.
Several wildlife rescue groups were represented such as Cedar Run, and many Pinelands trail groups, and conservation groups.
Naturally, the backbone of the festival is literature, so there were many authors such as my friend, Barb Solem with her three books: The Forks, Ghosttowns and Other Quirky Places of the Pines, and Batsto. Also, the fellow who wrote the History of New Jersey Diners, and New Jersey Folk Music, whose name I have momentarily forgotten, was there. I had seen and heard him at the Pinelands Preservation Alliance summer fest with a dulcimer band performing, and again at the Burlington County History Lecture series on Diners. He is very interesting, oh yes, his name is Michael Gabriele!
I always have a favorite and my fav this year was the basket weaving. What I missed were the wood carvers, the soap makers, and the jam makers. Last year I bought a beautiful wooden bowl and wooden Easter eggs, and cranberry preserves, as well as some handmade soap for my daughter's Easter basket, but this year I didn't see those tables. I may have missed them.
I missed the film, too, on John Hart, New Jersey' Revolutionary War Patriot. I get overwhelmed by crowds and can't think straight.
So I ended up sitting down to rest outside the auditorium where the film was playing, but didn't get to see the film, and I do always enjoy independent film, especially on New Jersey history.
So all in all it was a successful day, and my friends all went to Smithville afterwards for appetizers and drinks at the Tavern.
By the way, we had vegan lunches at a restaurant in a small shopping center across from the college. The food was great but the juice was atrociously expensive. I am too old to get used to paying $8 for a small bottle of beet juice, although people will pay $10 for a martini which has no nutrition whatsoever, so I guess you can look at it that way, but as I am not a drinker and would NEVER pay $10 for a martini, $8 for a juice was exorbitant in my book. Just letting you know as a warning in case you go there. The garbanzo bean fritters were delicious!
Don't know where I am off to next. Kind of in a hibernating pattern since the weather has been so inhospitable. Mostly I have been going to lunch at places close to home such as the often mentioned and much praised Maritza's in Maple Shade. Actually, I was there on Monday and I did visit a place worth noting - the Maple Shade Thrift Shop on the corner in the middle of town at the light.
They had lots of great stuff and I bought a big, beautiful African motif basket for $8 which I plan to give to my daughter.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
Several wildlife rescue groups were represented such as Cedar Run, and many Pinelands trail groups, and conservation groups.
Naturally, the backbone of the festival is literature, so there were many authors such as my friend, Barb Solem with her three books: The Forks, Ghosttowns and Other Quirky Places of the Pines, and Batsto. Also, the fellow who wrote the History of New Jersey Diners, and New Jersey Folk Music, whose name I have momentarily forgotten, was there. I had seen and heard him at the Pinelands Preservation Alliance summer fest with a dulcimer band performing, and again at the Burlington County History Lecture series on Diners. He is very interesting, oh yes, his name is Michael Gabriele!
I always have a favorite and my fav this year was the basket weaving. What I missed were the wood carvers, the soap makers, and the jam makers. Last year I bought a beautiful wooden bowl and wooden Easter eggs, and cranberry preserves, as well as some handmade soap for my daughter's Easter basket, but this year I didn't see those tables. I may have missed them.
I missed the film, too, on John Hart, New Jersey' Revolutionary War Patriot. I get overwhelmed by crowds and can't think straight.
So I ended up sitting down to rest outside the auditorium where the film was playing, but didn't get to see the film, and I do always enjoy independent film, especially on New Jersey history.
So all in all it was a successful day, and my friends all went to Smithville afterwards for appetizers and drinks at the Tavern.
By the way, we had vegan lunches at a restaurant in a small shopping center across from the college. The food was great but the juice was atrociously expensive. I am too old to get used to paying $8 for a small bottle of beet juice, although people will pay $10 for a martini which has no nutrition whatsoever, so I guess you can look at it that way, but as I am not a drinker and would NEVER pay $10 for a martini, $8 for a juice was exorbitant in my book. Just letting you know as a warning in case you go there. The garbanzo bean fritters were delicious!
Don't know where I am off to next. Kind of in a hibernating pattern since the weather has been so inhospitable. Mostly I have been going to lunch at places close to home such as the often mentioned and much praised Maritza's in Maple Shade. Actually, I was there on Monday and I did visit a place worth noting - the Maple Shade Thrift Shop on the corner in the middle of town at the light.
They had lots of great stuff and I bought a big, beautiful African motif basket for $8 which I plan to give to my daughter.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
Friday, March 9, 2018
Upcoming Film Series in Merchantville
While walking the Rail to Trail near the coffee Cafe the other day, we met the woman who is in charge of this film series. If you are free tonight and have dug your car out of the drive-way, you may want to take a ride over and enjoy the first in the series.
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Book Talk - On Psychology: The Body and Trauma
On Psychology - The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Dr. Bessel VanDerKolk.
Where I get my books and reading tips - When I drive and as you may have noticed from my blog, I drive a LOT and to far places in South Jersey, I listen to NPR. That is unless I have a friend along in which case, we talk! Or I play music. But I LOVE NPR - and I get a lot of ideas about what to read from their interviews with authors.
Dr. VDKolk spoke about his work with Vietman Vets and the trauma they carried with them when they returned from war. That was the beginning of his career in the 1970's before the diagnosis of PTSD was developed. Of course we had "Shell Shock" in the first, and second World Wars, but these diagnosis and the treatment were not as comprehensive as they became when a new generation of psychologists began to treat Vets. Full disclosure: My brother is a Vietnam Vet, so this was of special interest to me.
Anyhow, the doc discovered that the returning soldiers had similar symptoms which were an emotional numbness interspersed with unexpected, uncontrollable bursts of rage. Now, this is a long book, so I have to shorten everything, and let me say now - you should get this book and read it for the full story and a more accurate and detailed account.
The doc discovered that victims of child abuse, and domestic violence shared some similar symptoms and psychologists and psychiatrists all over the country were trying to develop therapies to treat the aftermath of trauma in these folks, which often resulted in drug abuse and alcohol abuse as the victims struggled to control their emotional pain with substance abuse. Also, the cycle would repeat itself with each generation, the victims inflicting abuse upon their children and partners for example.
They developed a three prong approach that involved talk therapy in groups; often vets couldn't talk to outsiders but they could talk to other vets who had shared their experience, combined with medical intervention and behavioral therapy - strategies to identify behaviors and find strategies to short circuit the bad ones and build new ones. If you have ever seen the movie, Silver Linings Playbook, you'll see that in action.
Even if you don't have a trauma survivor in your family, we are surrounded by them in our schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods. So many soldiers coming home from the Middle East and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD. It is always good to increase your sensitivity to others by understanding, even a little what they are going through.
AS a teacher, I often encountered children from dysfunctional families where one or both parents were in the grip of substance abuse of one kind or another. Often the children were the survivors of domestic abuse or had seen their mothers subjected to domestic violence. We don't have enough understanding in our society and we don't have enough help available in our schools, as evidenced by the last twenty years of gun violence in our public schools.
Anyhow, if you are looking for a good read for the long winter days that so hold us back from outdoor adventures, I recommend this one!
Happy Trails, Jo Ann
Where I get my books and reading tips - When I drive and as you may have noticed from my blog, I drive a LOT and to far places in South Jersey, I listen to NPR. That is unless I have a friend along in which case, we talk! Or I play music. But I LOVE NPR - and I get a lot of ideas about what to read from their interviews with authors.
Dr. VDKolk spoke about his work with Vietman Vets and the trauma they carried with them when they returned from war. That was the beginning of his career in the 1970's before the diagnosis of PTSD was developed. Of course we had "Shell Shock" in the first, and second World Wars, but these diagnosis and the treatment were not as comprehensive as they became when a new generation of psychologists began to treat Vets. Full disclosure: My brother is a Vietnam Vet, so this was of special interest to me.
Anyhow, the doc discovered that the returning soldiers had similar symptoms which were an emotional numbness interspersed with unexpected, uncontrollable bursts of rage. Now, this is a long book, so I have to shorten everything, and let me say now - you should get this book and read it for the full story and a more accurate and detailed account.
The doc discovered that victims of child abuse, and domestic violence shared some similar symptoms and psychologists and psychiatrists all over the country were trying to develop therapies to treat the aftermath of trauma in these folks, which often resulted in drug abuse and alcohol abuse as the victims struggled to control their emotional pain with substance abuse. Also, the cycle would repeat itself with each generation, the victims inflicting abuse upon their children and partners for example.
They developed a three prong approach that involved talk therapy in groups; often vets couldn't talk to outsiders but they could talk to other vets who had shared their experience, combined with medical intervention and behavioral therapy - strategies to identify behaviors and find strategies to short circuit the bad ones and build new ones. If you have ever seen the movie, Silver Linings Playbook, you'll see that in action.
Even if you don't have a trauma survivor in your family, we are surrounded by them in our schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods. So many soldiers coming home from the Middle East and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD. It is always good to increase your sensitivity to others by understanding, even a little what they are going through.
AS a teacher, I often encountered children from dysfunctional families where one or both parents were in the grip of substance abuse of one kind or another. Often the children were the survivors of domestic abuse or had seen their mothers subjected to domestic violence. We don't have enough understanding in our society and we don't have enough help available in our schools, as evidenced by the last twenty years of gun violence in our public schools.
Anyhow, if you are looking for a good read for the long winter days that so hold us back from outdoor adventures, I recommend this one!
Happy Trails, Jo Ann
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Rails to Trails
I have a hiking friend, who has, with me, engaged in many projects such as the NJ State Passport to the State Parks (We did about 30 of them) and the Rails to Trails. The furthest away we went for R & T was Linwood, outside of Ocean City. So, today, I thought she might be interested in a close one I found in Merchantville, New Jersey. This was especially interesting to me for three reasons:
1. I went to high school in Merchantville (no longer a high school)
2. There is a Train Station coffee shop and Art Gallery there
3. I love the Victorian and Gothic architecture in Merchantville
Now, I had already mentioned this Rails to Trails in a previous post, but since then, I found my book: 24 GREAT RAIL-TRAILS OF NEW JERSEY, by Craig P. Della Penna, published in 1999.
This book had been less useful to me than the web site I found because the book detailed mainly trails in Northern New Jersey, Mercer and Monmouth counties and up and I rarely get further north than Burlington. However two of the trails in his book, I did find and hike, one in Pemberton, and the aforementioned Linwood, plus the Ocean City one. Also, the friend mentioned above, Barb Spector, and I had visited the Delaware and Rarity Canal Trail for both the D & R Museum, and the trail and the State Park!
As mentioned before the Merchantville R to T is about 1 mile, so 2 miles round trip, a nice easy walk on such a beautiful cool and sunny day as we enjoyed today, along with a ride around the nearby streets featuring those gorgeous Victorian mansions, and a coffee at the Train Station coffee shop.
We need a Rails to Trails for Southern New Jersey. Sorry - I am too busy on a book or two of my own to undertake this, but I did just discover another R & T that we visited - the one in Woodbine! So that makes four! And there is one in Monroe Twp. that I missed.
More snow expected tomorrow, March 7, 2018, so I am glad I got out today! Hope you did too.
Happy Trails, Jo Ann
1. I went to high school in Merchantville (no longer a high school)
2. There is a Train Station coffee shop and Art Gallery there
3. I love the Victorian and Gothic architecture in Merchantville
Now, I had already mentioned this Rails to Trails in a previous post, but since then, I found my book: 24 GREAT RAIL-TRAILS OF NEW JERSEY, by Craig P. Della Penna, published in 1999.
This book had been less useful to me than the web site I found because the book detailed mainly trails in Northern New Jersey, Mercer and Monmouth counties and up and I rarely get further north than Burlington. However two of the trails in his book, I did find and hike, one in Pemberton, and the aforementioned Linwood, plus the Ocean City one. Also, the friend mentioned above, Barb Spector, and I had visited the Delaware and Rarity Canal Trail for both the D & R Museum, and the trail and the State Park!
As mentioned before the Merchantville R to T is about 1 mile, so 2 miles round trip, a nice easy walk on such a beautiful cool and sunny day as we enjoyed today, along with a ride around the nearby streets featuring those gorgeous Victorian mansions, and a coffee at the Train Station coffee shop.
We need a Rails to Trails for Southern New Jersey. Sorry - I am too busy on a book or two of my own to undertake this, but I did just discover another R & T that we visited - the one in Woodbine! So that makes four! And there is one in Monroe Twp. that I missed.
More snow expected tomorrow, March 7, 2018, so I am glad I got out today! Hope you did too.
Happy Trails, Jo Ann
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