We need to give each other the space to grow, to be ourselves, to exercise our diversity.
We need to give each other space so that we may both give and receive such beautiful things
as ideas, openness, dignity, joy, healing, and inclusion.

- Max de Pree
 

I'm what you call a teleological existential atheist.
I believe there's an intelligence to the universe with the exception of certain parts of New Jersey.

- Woody Allen
 

Although quite small, New Jersey has an amazing number of positive attributes - and a few negative ones...

That New Jersey State of Mind - As a native New Yorker, albeit an upstate New Yorker, I was always taught to look down on New Jersey.  It was what you did as a true New Yorker, and to be honest, it wasn't that hard.  You only had to journey across the Hudson to immediately realise you were in a different state, not only geographically but mentally.  One thing was for sure: it wasn't Fifth Avenue.  Which also might be its charm...

My Impression of New Jersey - Curiously, there's more wildlife here than anyplace else I've ever seen.  Sometimes you'll see a small herd of deer walk between two houses in a residential area.  There're groundhogs (also called woodchucks) thicker than armadillos in the streams and sewers, Canadian geese everywhere (you have to watch where you step because they're very messy) and ducks, squirrels, snapping turtles (huge things that can bite the end off a wooden broom handle), chipmunks, rabbits, nutria - and that's just in the SUBURBS...

State Facts about New Jersey - Commonly known as: "the diner capital of the world"... Largest chemical producing state in the nation.  (Don't make a joke, please.)

The New Jersey State Song (Not) - New Jersey is the only state without a state song, but there are a few contenders.  Listen and vote for your favourite (the page is roughly 5 meg)...

Complex Highway Interchanges - after all, it DOES have the densest system of highways in the US...

New Jersey in the Fall - the trees have turned a hundred shades of purple, red, yellow, orange, lime, gold, and brown.  The air is full of blowing leaves.  Walking through the parks is breathtaking - like being inside a flower.  The squirrels and birds are in a frenzy eating everything they can find in preparation for winter.  This is probably the nicest time of year here.  Unfortunately, it doesn't last long...

NJ Transit Plans for the Future - Many trains are already operating at 130% capacity, and once the Secaucus station opens, seating will only get worse.  The agency hopes to ease the problem by running trains with 12 cars instead of 10.  And it also plans to purchase 200 double-decker train cars...

The Black Bear in New Jersey - The bear may utter a series of huffs, snap (pop) its jaws, and swat the ground.  These are all warning signs that you are too close.  Slowly back away...

New Jersey's Famous Duel and the Legacy of Aaron Burr - Burr was considered to be one of the most brilliant students graduated from Princeton in the 18th century.  Woodrow Wilson said he had "genius enough to have made him immortal, and unschooled passion enough to have made him infamous."  Burr graduated with honors in 1772 at 16, a lad with unforgettable hazel eyes, handsome features and irresistible charm...

Population, Farms, Median Home Prices by County - Camden and Morris counties show the effects of suburbanisation while the relative scarcity of farmland in Atlantic, Cape May and Ocean counties is more reflective of poorer soils in the outer coastal plain...

New Jersey's Ex-King - Joseph took only a suitcase of jewels with him, deciding it was safer to bury the remainder, with his gold, on the grounds of his Swiss hideaway.  Looking for a place to stay that would measure up to his social class, in early 1817, Joseph settled in New Jersey under the name of Count de Survilliers (though Americans tended to call him Mr Bonaparte)...

Detailed Map of Patriot's Path - This is a full-sized map.  The resolution is as low as I could make it, but the file size is still about half a meg...

Rocks of Ages - I've only mentioned two Morristown churches on this page, but that's not because Morristown only has two beautiful old churches.  I'll add more about Morristown churches as I get around to it.  (Frankly, it could take months.  Or years.  But they'll likely still be there, no matter how long I wait.  Besides, if it's important to you, a web search will turn up photos of all of them.  Lots...)

Evergreen Cemetery - In 1855, the Methodist Church had a cemetery located on Bank Street near the corner of Ann Street in Morristown, NJ.  In 1888, the Methodist church cemetery was closed and the remains of all buried there were removed to Evergreen Cemetery.  A monument at Evergreen recognises this happening...  The question is - why?

Crypts at Evergreen - At the time, the construction of an imposing permanent monument may help to ease the pain of loss.  I wonder how many family members, years later, wish they had saved more and spent less...

The Biggest House in the Neighbourhood - There's no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery.  You can't do any business from there.  Just ask Colonel Sanders...

The Large, the Medium and the Small - Curiously, his second wife's name was engraved high enough up to allow room for another wife.  Luckily, that one outlived the Reverend - because he had run out of room.  Now, they all rest side by  side.

Monumental Memories - The Mills family appears to be quite large, with members buried in several places in the cemetery.  However, none had a monument quite as - hmmm - novel as this one...

Cast into Stone - Visible from this angle are details of four of their children: John, who died at age 17, Eliza, who died at 10 months, Robert, who died at age 22, and Hannah, who lived to be 75 - but who never married, had children, nor, apparently, had a career worth noting on her monument...

Hope Fades - There was room on the tombstone for more children's names - but perhaps Mary and David felt they had two children living - Sarah and William - and they would stop there.  By the time William died, Mary was 46 - a bit old for more children.  Did she hope, to no avail?  When her last child died, Mary was 59.

New Jersey's Royal Governor - Some called William Franklin a traitor and others called him a patriot.  Why do so few people today know William ever existed?  Because Benjamin excised most references to his son from the final version of his autobiography.  They did meet again, in England, nearly a decade after they had last spoken, to settle financial accounts.  Benjamin, nearing 80, "brought all the warmth of a real estate settlement" to the encounter...

NJ Canal System - The Morris Canal was the brainchild of Morristown businessman George Macculloch, who envisioned a commerce route that could surmount North Jersey's rugged terrain to ship coal, iron ore, farm produce and other products across the state.  To conquer an unprecedented 1,674-foot change in elevation, the Morris Canal used a series of locks and a new innovation, the inclined plane...

Forget George Washington - Elias Boudinot was actually the first president of the US.  He also founded the first bank, headed up the mint,  was responsible for the first Thanksgiving and published an idea which became a prime basis for the Mormon church...

Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge - that's a good thing to do with a swamp.  Xanadu is a bad thing to do with one.  What makes the difference?  Oh.  Politics.  Lesser scandals to cover bigger ones?  Excuse me - I'm sinking in the mire...

New Jersey's Water Quality - Hey, it may not be perfect, but at least there seems to be enough of it...

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