June 30, 2012 Storm and Schedule Updates

Time flies between blogs! It’s not that there isn’t much to write about, I guess it’s more of a lack of time & energy.

Here it is 4^th of July, “Independence Day”, which means more to some of us than others these days. Never thought I’d be writing about this as I too used to be one of those people. 4^th of July was just another holiday, a day of summer barbeques, going to the beach, the boardwalk & a day off from work.

Another spin on this day are thoughts of a popular movie, “Independence Day”.  We’ve been through something this weekend & as bad as it is, it could have always been worse. It has been a rude awakening for a lot of people that we need to be more prepared for these challenges when they do come along.

I was not here to witness the nonstop lightening, rain, winds, sound of trees snapping all around & in some cases falling on houses & cars. The horrific stories don’t end. And still, as bad as it has been, it could always be worse.

This storm called a “Derecho”, hit without warning. They are extremely rare & we may never experience another in our lifetime. It took down the tallest & oldest trees all around us, straight from the root system. It never seems to amaze me how shallow a root base these tall, old trees have.

I was down in Ocean City, Maryland, drinking & dancing at a famous place called “Seacrets”, celebrating a special friend’s birthday for the weekend. We never heard a thing. We left there around 4:30-5am, it was raining, but, very little. It had obviously rained quite a bit while we were in there. My neighbor called at 7:30am to tell me he just wanted to let me know my house was ok. OK?....there was a pause….then he went on to say what had happened & that our neighborhood had been destroyed. There were trees on at least 3 houses in our 17 house neighborhood, 2 cars, & many, many more trees were down all around the rest of the neighborhood. Mind you, I’m still drunk & trying to process all the information my neighbor is giving me. We got up, gathered our belongings that we had just lugged up there late the night before & started back home. We had to wait 3 hours for a ferry, but, what were we in a hurry to get to at this point anyway?

We are hard core survivors here. We spent 2 months in Africa, higher temperatures, in the bush with much, much less & did way, way more. These last few days, we had the luxury of a generator so we at least had the fridge & freezer running & also a fan. We’re also fortunate to have city water, (never thought I’d say that!) sewerage & gas. We looked in on neighbors throughout the day & made sure everyone had all they needed to get by. We have 2 neighbors whom are suffering with Alzheimer’s; one is on hospice & the other not far behind. There is a neighbor whom just gave birth recently to their 5^th child, but they opted out for the conveniences of electricity, rightfully so. There is also a couple recently married & are spending their honeymoon in Europe. No sense coming home from there! We are a tight neighborhood & it is times like this that make us even closer.

The images posted here are all taken within a 5 mile radius of my home on Saturday evening through Monday. (Most are only within 1 mile) I find it difficult to visualize even in my photographs the extent of the damage in our area. I stand in one spot & turn in circles. It’s everywhere I look. I will be only posting 5 images here & then I'll post the album on my facebook page.

Our power was restored late last night. We had the best night sleep we’ve had in days! Thank you so much to all the workers whom made this happen. To all the people who still don’t have power…hang in there. It’ll make you appreciate it all the more when you do get it back. Don’t you remember growing up? We all made it to this point! We never had air conditioning.

To the people who are complaining about not having the services they usually do…” where are all the people to come & help us”…..are you kidding me?? SUCK IT UP! You could live in Colorado & not have a house at all to come back too. People are helping people all around us. Be one of them.

One quick story to give you something to think about…………. I called my grand children’s mother to check on all of them & she told me they were camping down around Ocean County when the storm hit. When the first lightening strike hit, she took the children out of their tent, put them in the truck & took them home, against the wishes of her friends she was camping with. The next morning, they returned to the campground to gather their things & there was a tree, 3 foot in diameter, laid across the tent the children were sleeping in. They would have been killed. Sunday we awoke to news that 2 children sleeping in a tent were killed by a tree falling on their tent.

For all of those who came out of this unharmed, this is what you have to be grateful for. Food, houses, cars, can all be replaced.

I am grateful for my awesome family, friends & neighbors. I have a lot of people out there that make my life that much better because they are part of it! Thank you for your help & offers of convenience to make my life easier during these last few days! We really are all in this together.

Today….back to work.

Schedule:

July 14^th, 2012 Saturday Beachfest I Arts & Crafts Festival
Place: Bicentennial Park * Engleside Ave, Beach Haven * LBI, NJ
Time: 9:00AM to 4:00PM *

August 3, 4, 5, 2012 Friday thru Sunday Ocean City Boardwalk Art Show                                                                                                             Place: Ocean City, New Jersey, Boardwalk                                                                                                                                                            Time: Friday, 9am till 6pm Saturday, 9am till 8pm, Sunday, 9am till 4pm

November 3 & 4, 2012 NOYES MUSEUM of ART CRAFTS MARKETPLACE 2012
Place: The Noyes Museum of Art
733 Lily Lake Rd., Oceanville, NJ 08231
Time: Saturday, November 3: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Sunday, November 4: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

On another note...I won’t be going to Rwanda to trek silver back gorillas this year as planned. The trip has been postponed till the end of next June.

I will be going on some sort of other adventure sometime in the very near future, just not sure where or when yet, but, I’ll keep you posted!

Stay well & be happy my friends! Life is too short & remember this is NOT a rehearsal!...MAKE IT ALL COUNT!!!

Peace!

Schedule Updates

Jeffer's Landing clean up is scheduled for tomorrow at 3:30, but if this snow keeps up, (& I'm NOT complaining!) we may have to reschedule. It'll be hard finding all the trash under the snow. I'll keep you posted as it may melt before our scheduled meeting time. I'm excited about this endeavor & I'd like to make this an annual clean up event. I hope to see the people that I know enjoy spending time there as I do.

This Wednesday, February 15, 2012, I will be giving a presentation at The Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association's River Council Meeting on the book I have been working on, "Life on Patcong Creek".

The meeting will be held at The Nature Center in Estell Manor Park & begins at 7pm. My goal is to have the book finished by May. I'll keep you posted on that as well!

On March 15, 2012, I'll be giving a presentation on my adventure to Churchill, Manitoba, Canada with the polar bears at The Noyes Museum in Oceanville, NJ. Start time is 6pm & there is a $10 entrance fee. The program should last approximately 1 1/2 hours with refreshments being served after the program. http://www.noyesmuseum.org

 

There is another event that I would like to share with you coming to Stockton College that is going to be an awesome presentation in the photography world, http://www.artcnow.com featuring Seth Resnick & John Russo. Google them, I think you'll be impressed as they are both great artists.

There will updates on art shows for the season next week.

Much Peace, Love & Happiness & thanks for stopping by! I hope to see you sometime in my travels!

Churchill, Manitoba, Canada

Churchill polar bear adventure is less than a month away & I am literally counting the days!

I have been doing extensive research and look forward to all that Churchill has to offer. Snow has been in their forecast, and after the hot summer we've had here on the east coast, I'm looking forward to it. I will be blogging along the way, as long as there is Internet access. There will be a link to my blog from http://www.artcnow.com as well. 

I've also been working on a book, "Life on Patcong Creek", with the subject matter in my own back yard. The book will not be all my own words as it will be a collection of information I've gathered along the way. Included will be the wildlife that exists here, the marine life, flora, history & I will be writing our current history so as to save our future generations some time on their research. Check out http://www.facebook.com & type in Patcong Creek in the search bar. There are a few variations, but mine has an eagle for the profile picture, then take a look at the photo album to give you a little preview of our creek.

This project came about from the environmental stewards class I took this past year through Rutgers University. It was held at the Atlantic County Utilities Authority in Pleasantville, NJ. We had to do an internship project for the completion of the class & to receive our certificate. I will be sponsored by The Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association & I will also be giving a program at their November meeting. I have learned so much from this class & I highly recommend it to anyone interested in our environment, its past & where it all seems to be going. Every week was with a different professor / instructor & subject matter. We had a great class & I made some awesome new friends & contacts along the way. http://www.envirostewards.rutgers.edu/

So check back for updates on all of this exciting news & leave comments as I look forward to hearing from you as well!

Much Peace, Love & Happiness & Be Well!

What a week!

What a week, an earthquake, hurricane Irene & 1 tornado warning....Mother Natures Fury.

As many of you know, I live on Patcong Creek in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. We expect many changes in the next 24 hours. Two of my major concerns would have to be water in my studio & loosing my greenhouse. We'll see how that all works out. We may also be seeing what has been the best ever community garden come to an end. We've been under a mandatory evacuation since last night, but I don't expect to be going anywhere. I'm here with my dog, Ashley, & have really done all that I could for storm control over the past few days.

Be safe my friends & keep in touch to let me know what's happening in your area. I would love to hear from you!