Fall Spectacular in New Jersey

I can't remember a more gorgeous fall in Central Jersey than this current edition. Here are some photos from around the neighborhood to prove my point.

Like most everything else when you get older, Autumn spurs many memories of years goes by -- some pleasant and some not so pleasant. And some are melancholy.

The last Autumn I remember so clearly that rivals the beauty of this year is 1989. This was the year of a big earthquake in San Francisco when highways buckled, buildings shook and a nation held its breath. This was the year that the Eastern Bloc Eurpoean countries began to break with the Soviet Union. This was the year that the Berlin Wall came down.

And this was the year that Kay, my beloved wife of 19 years and mother of Kris and Dave, passed away after a relatively short illness. Whether it really was a brilliant Autumn that year or perhaps it was just nature was "amplified" by the seeming disconnect with our lives and nature. If that makes any sense. This was a horrible but beautiful Fall.

1964 was one of the most pleasant of Autumns of 1964 went I entered Rutgers marked the beginning of major life changes for me.  Truly it was the Spring of my adulthood.

That same year I had a car and I was smitten with a girl -- we went to Rutgers football games  and life couldn't have been more sweet. The next year she and her family left the country and broke my tender little heart.  It was at that point that I started writing -- letters, poetry, stories.   I began then to realize what a release this would be over my lifetime.

The last photo above features our new Schnauzer -- Roxy.  

But enough about us.  How about your favorite Autumn story? Use the comments button below!

A Balanced Life

Yesterday I lost my balance and fell. I always thought I had great balance but apparently I was kidding myself. It happened while visiting a friend's bric-a-brac shoppe in Clinton, New Jersey. She has a ton of bric-a-brac and it's all tightly packed on shelves lining each side of the narrow shoppe.


I am embarassed to say I was demonstrating my newest trick with our dog, Roxy. The trick goes like this. I faux kick the dog and she rolls over as if having been struck. Actually when performed well, it looks like I am kicking the dog. Occurs to me that this actually is a horrifying trick and says something bad about me to begin with.


So, there I was -- dog, friends, me, narrow bric-a-brack shoppe. I swipe at the dog (she is not really cooperating as this is unfamiliar location) and my foot passes over her. And there I go, a-wobblying, teetering backwards and then down with a loud crash, sprawling into the bric-a-brac shelving and its many wonderous items.


So, there I lay for a moment trying not to move. I want to preserve any undamaged shop items (by laying on them longer?). At long last, my wife and friends retrieve me from my accidental lounging position.


The shop owner, a dear friend, peeked out from behind the counter to make sure I hadn't hurt myself then after my assurances I was OK, went back to her business. She was kind enough not to check on possible damages to her wares.


Amazingly, I destroyed no bric-a-brac How is this possible? I really crashed into the items. Fortunately, most of the wares were bottled in plastic containers. The one or two items that I could have smashed, I apparently didn't. The only thing damaged was my pride.