Come visit NJ
It seems like a lot of people make fun of NJ. But I’m betting that is because they don’t really know much about the state. They probably looking at unrealistic television shows like “The Sopranos” (which, by the way, I’ve never seen a single episode of), or getting a view from Newark Airport. And let’s face it, if all you see of any area is the airports, you’re probably not going to see much other than industrial zones.
So while NJ may have its industrial zones, it is called “The Garden State”. Here are a few images from where I used to live.
This was the house. Not the one on the right, that is the landlords house, but the smaller one in the rear. It is a one-bedroom house with a kitchen, a bathroom and a living room. Perfect for a single guy. And it was a real quiet place, too.
This was the view out my front porch. That is the “cowbarn”, which is apparently authentic. My house was the original farmhouse, while the bigger house in the prior picture was built later. Here is where they kept “the cow” (singular). It is just storage now; they let me keep my bicycle in there.
Well, you might not be able to see it very well, but there is a deer behind the patio furniture. NJ has a high deer population, so it is very common to see them all over the place. It is also very common for cars to be destroyed due to deers running into the highways. At one point, the state even had a “carcass removal” patrol. I myself have been lucky so far, that I’ve not hit a deer yet, but I do pass by a whole herd of them even today, on my way to work.
We also have other wildlife. Here is a whole flock of turkeys. Or whatever you call a bunch of turkeys together.
I don’t rightly remember when this was, but we had a huge amount of once and it flooded out many of the roads. It may be hard to tell, but this is a bridge over a river, and the river is now flowing over the bridge.
A zoom of the same area as above. It is supposed to be a road. There’s no way you could get through here. I think the water must be over 6 feet deep.
We don’t get regular weather events like that, but I would say we see something like that at least once a year. Where I live, maybe 40 miles inland, when a hurricane develops, we usually just see lots of rain like this. All of these were in the area known as The Great Swamp, a national wildlife refuge of almost 8,000 acres.
Here is one of the last remnants of the Morris Canal. Most of the canal has been destroyed over the years, but this part went wild, and at some point, it was reclaimed and turned into a county park.
The canal was abandoned in 1926, so you might imagine what this used to look like before reclamation. Why was it abandoned? When trains were invented, a railroad was laid that followed most of the canal, and that caused it to decline.
The steel tracks were long since reclaimed. About the only thing you might find are some rusty spikes or track plates. How mighty stand the works of man?
And finally, overlooking the canal from the railroad
And by the way, if bucolic settings aren’t your thing, we’re close enough to NY that a trip to Manhattan is a matter of “let’s go”. Me? I prefer quietude most of the time.
March 29th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Love the nature/exploring parts ^^
March 29th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Azog! You live in another world altogether… deer and turkeys running around free … very pretty place ^^ What time of the day was it that you took the last three pictures? thanks for putting up the pics!
March 29th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
If they were so sly, I also drive by an area where foxes live. Each time I see one, I slow down and try to fumble my cellphone out to get a pic, but they’re gone.
.
Oh, those last three were recently taken around 11:00 am, but the washed out colors is the fault of the operator. I have a new camera that I am still not sure how to use. Apparently I forgot to change it from “indoor” to “outdoor”.
March 29th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Nice pictures! When I was little I used to get scared when I saw deer on the side of the road when we were riding in a car… I’d always duck down and/or cry. Lol. To this day I have no clue why I did that then…
March 29th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
I live in an area like that but I live in the city bit (thank god!) I got my “fill of the country” when we used to live in the mendips (farmers + mud + plants ect.) then my Mum moved me and my brother out to New Zealand for 8 months and back again-I miss sunny weather! My dad still lived in the mendips until recently when he had to move out cause the landlord tried (and failed) to sell the house…. Blah I might as well just write a blog post about it instead of spamming your comments! ;)
lilypop ^^
March 29th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
I live in town, but not the city, and not the country. So, kinda like in between. I like the nature pics, as well. But, I’m afraid I can’t come visit NJ because I’m just not allowed to lol.
March 29th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
The last three images are close to where I live now, which is “town” as well. I do miss my old place :( One of the neighbors had a rooster, and another was a beekeeper. I am still close enough (30ish miles) to the Great Swamp. Since April and May are good birding months, and I have not been out birding in a while (I just hate going places alone), I’ll try to go sometime after Easter. The World Series of Birding is in May. And yes, I am serious, there is such an event, google it :P
March 29th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
dont read what u wrote yet, will read later… so sleepy… nice scenery there (^_^)…… hahaha… already 6.40 am here, and i dont sleep yet, wah! deer! (=_=)zZzZzZ…
March 29th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Whats birding?
March 29th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
You call it “bird watching”, but we call it “birding” :)
March 29th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Oh I see.
March 30th, 2009 at 10:16 am
haha you read my mind when you answered the time question. It feels like Narnia, but without snow… the only bird watching I do is following that random yellow tail oriole if it happens to sweep by in the morning… otherwise multitudes of crows and pigeons we have here are like bleah… xD
March 30th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Urghhh! My school is bursting with pigeons and seagulls, the nest on the PE block roof @.@ They’re noisy and gross and evil!
lilypop ^^
March 30th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
I never knew about the wildlife of New Jersey! I’ve never been there, but my cousins, aunt, and uncle lived there for a while, and then they had to move to Texas. No wonder they didn’t want to move! NJ looks awesome!
March 31st, 2009 at 10:17 am
It’s a beautiful place.. :)
April 15th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
i live in NJ too.
so cool.
April 15th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
i was born in NJ and im still continue living the same state.
April 15th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
sorry im natalie