Lost in Thought

It has been a while, I know. Work and such. Also rain and cold are not conducive to wandering because it makes for cruddy road conditions. I was able to do a little exploring in Somerset County, not much though. Some nice road signs that I will post. This past weekend was pretty decent, so I was able to go for a walk on the D&R towpath with the girlfriend. I have always like the towpath. The slow-moving water, not too much modern noise, (Depending of course, where you are, the stretch on Easton Ave is most definitely not quiet.) and the fact that I can generally get lost in the moment. A slow wind, the quiet flow of the water, the birds returning, and the trees budding; I can almost feel how it might have once been back then. All I need is a tethered mule. It is pretty though, especially the stretch between Griggstown and Blackwell Mills. There are some period buildings; some occupied while others are not.

Living on the Edge of the World

When Catholics are born, they receive a Holy Bible. When Sicilians are born they receive a lupara. "Living on the Edge of the World", is a book every child who was borne upon Jersey soil; and every man who has reaped the benefits of its resources. It is an anthology of Garden State writers, telling of their experiences, of love, hatred, loss and joy. These up and coming authors show what it means to be from New Jersey, painting the duality that while you are "Living on the edge of the world" (Springsteen), "who says you can't go home" (Bon Jovi). And while that statement reeks of corniness, it is nonetheless truthful. As it was brought up by the editor, Irina Reyn, most these author fled the state. Yet, all pay homage to the Garden State. Everyone probably thinks the same of their state. Rhode Island, Texas, California, Nebraska. As places to grow and mature, these states are all fine and dandy, but every other state lack a grittiness, a grittiness laced with beauty and wonder. It is the ying and the yang, polar opposites: the Mullica or the Passaic; Princeton or Camden; the shoreline beauty below Raritan Bay, or the industrial grit above.

Helmetta

So I used today to go develop the Helmetta film. Unfortunately, I was too cheap to front the two bucks and have the pictures put on a disk, thus I must scan them in. So right now I am just posting one picture up here. The rest will probably be uploaded sometime this weekend. I really need winter to be over, because I don't do winter exploration to well. Must be the Mediterranean blood or something. The worst is that from the office. I look outside and there is sun, and birds, and it looks very tempting; until I actually go oustide. Then there is thirty degree weather. Joy. But I am definately getting the warm weather bug. Everyone knows it. I just want winter done with so I can pull out the camping gear and the mountain bike. Just a few more weeks. Alas, 3 inches of snow tomorrow, with an inch of ice. Bugger.

Fiddlin' With the Devil: Redefining New Jersey Folklore

So, after much deliberation, I've decided to post my paper on the evolution of the New Jersey Devil; New Jersey's most famous of lores; on my blog. It pretty much charts the history of the Jersey Devil, going through key points, that illustrates my thesis. It isn't too bad if I do say so myself, though it is a bit long and has seventy-plus footnotes. Historians love footnotes, the more the better. But anyway, enjoy. And for those who don't...you suck.

Fiddlin' With the Devil: Redefining New Jersey Folklore

Winter?

So I went to enjoy the beautiful day by driving around Somerset/Middlesex in search of interesting things. Going down Easton, the first thing I came across was the Abraham Statts House in South Bound Brook. It is a quaint old house, overlooking the Canal. With the sun shining and a few hawks in the air, one can almost imagine how life was once. Adjacent to is a housing complex. It is amazing how much this house has seen. Built in the mid-18th century, before the canal, before the Revolution. This house has seen the change of times; no longer is the area Dutchmen, exporting crops and homemade goods. After a few more shots, I continued along following the canal road where it becomes Weston. Along that portion of the canal there is a house built for the lock man, the person in charge of allowing commerce to flow from the various homes and villages of the Raritan to the larger towns of Philadelphia and New York. (Depending which way you floated of course.) The canal is a very lovely, quiet place that allows for good biking or canoeing. I arrived at the lock just before the downfall, and even then the canal had become fast-moving, with the water rushing through the remains of the lock. Though the canal is obsolete as a means of commercial transportation, much remains of the lock system, which can create very pleasant waterfalls. One of which I enjoyed, until that freak rainstorm, which sent me packing to drier places....and so I went home.

Soon after the stopping of the rain, I found myself once again on the road, this time in Helmetta. Helmetta is one of those quaint Central Jersey towns; it has a Main Street, a firehouse, houses from various decades, and an abandoned snuff factory, from the days of yore... A good website to check out the history of this interesting place is:
http://www.jamesburg.net/snuffedout01.html.
The site talks of another amazing historical place that will soon be devoured by housing developments. While I only stuck to the outside, the factory is amazing. It is a gigantic structure that dwarfs anything else in the town. Pictures will be posted shortly, or as soon as I can go get them developed. The decay and eventual destruction of this factory shows the overall decay and loss of small-America. Places of historic, or intrinsic value are being gobbled up for profit and greed. It is quite depressing. Most the times people turn to destruction as the answer. In Milltown, the township has saved the namesake of their town: The Mill, by turning it into apartments. While the inside is different from its industrial past, the Mill that gives Milltown its name will continue sitting tall and proud. It makes me wonder if this could not be used more. Who wouldn't think it would be interesting to live in an apartment that was once a snuff factory? But all this has made me pondered: If old buildings of beauty and majesty are destroyed for newer concepts of beauty and majesty and for progressive growth, how long before that new building is labeled old and becomes nothing but dust?

The Beginning

So I am trying out this blogging thing. And what better topic to comment, gripe, describe and/or promote, then New Jersey. After all it is one hell of a state... The title came from the simple fact that I enjoy gassing up the ole car, facing a direction and hitting the pedal. And so these pages will be contribution to the Garden State. (The whole 'Shore to Please" is pretty tacky and will undoubtedly feel my ire.) It is amazing how everyone looks past NJ in favor of the larger cities of New York and Philadelphia. People just see this state as a turnpike connection between two major metropolises, nothing but a footnote in the annals of Americana. But that is not so. for the fourth smallest state with a thousand people per square mile, nothing is as normal as it seems.....