Growing with the Flow

Communities come together in times of need and I have seen our community grow immensely in a short period, or maybe more accurately my appreciation of our community grew even more.  This past week has been challenging for many and many are likely still facing challenges in the days to come.  Through these challenges I have witnessed some amazing scenes.  The sights would restore even the most down trodden view on humanity.

I want to share with you a couple of the highlights I saw while trying to do my part.  I want to brag about the community we all call home and provide reasons why we should all be proud.

The first scene was a mother wading through knee high water to get her three kids off the school bus.  She then carried them, one by one, to dry ground.  Traffic waited, in water, while she made the three trips.  The maternal care she showed and the relief she demonstrated as she placed the last child on dry ground moved me and allowed me to push harder through my day.

Firemen are a special breed and we have some of the best volunteer firefighters around right here in our community.  In a time of high stress and continual action, a couple of them calmly aided seniors onto a bus as they evacuated the Lions Villa.  Each fireman was able to smile and infuse a sense of humor to reduce the stress in the entire situation.  As the bus stopped to drop off a couple of the seniors on board, the firemen piggybacked them to dry ground and again humor made the situation more bearable.  I was again left feeling blessed in the midst of chaos.

With homes fully surrounded by water, I could see neighbors gathered on small pieces of dry land, talking and even laughing with one another.  The sound of running pumps and generators prevented me from hearing the laughter but their facial expressions indicated that it was forced simply to help them keep their sanity.  They were leaning on each other as they sat scanning the floating debris and tangled pipes amongst their subdivision.  Their ability to face such a tough situation with a brave face made me realize how small some of my day to day problems really are.

Kids always seem to have a positive attitude and as our future that is a great thing.  As parents struggled with trying to minimize the damage to their homes, I watched kids playing obliviously to the ramifications of what was going on around them.  The link between youth and innocence was driven home as the kids splashed in a puddle at the end of his driveway.

Maybe the biggest testament to how strong our community truly is was how often I saw friends helping friends.  On a normal day, a household would sit lifeless as the home owners went quietly about their day.  Over this week this same home has 4 or more people milling about trying to put it back together.  Some of the people are family members while others are neighbors who are slightly better off.  This happened instantly and likely without even a call.

Witnessing all this made me incredibly proud to call this community home.  I wish every one a smooth road to recovery and can’t wait to see how we grow as we come through this.

Fall Timing

Just had this published in today's Kings County Record.  Hope you enjoy the read and sorry for not posting more recently but the weather has been great and I've been spending a lot of time in the woods.

 Fall is now in full swing and I have been driving from Sussex Corner to Alma to witness it over the last three days.  It is amazing how trees in different areas have been turning at different paces.  The maples as I leave the Kennebecasis valley are a crisp red and the birches and poplars are yellows.  As I close in on Alma the maples are still clinging to the last remnants of green in their leaves and the birches and poplars are only slightly yellow. 

The drive into the sunshine and fog in the morning is challenging as I squint against the glare in the windshield.  I pull the visor down just as a moose crosses the road in front of me, no doubt just happy to have made it past the previous weekend.  A brown oak leaf with a purple tinge floats towards my windshield before flying over the cab of the truck.  The floating leaf takes my eyes towards Wolfe Lake where I notice a loon lazily swimming on the fog shrouded surface.

It was one of those mornings where everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.  This is not the first time that I had felt this type of sensation and I was never able to explain it.  Recently I read through a random web site that discussed an interesting study on how time slows down for people who experience a sense of "awe".  It illustrated three different experiments and all had the same result.  So now I have an explanation for that feeling that has now become familiar when I explore our wondrous part of the globe.

That feeling of awe can often be found when exploring our natural ecosystems.  To further enhance the slow down effects of "awe" in nature consider this: because you have to literally slow down to explore nature, time is in super slow motion.  No doubt your heart, blood pressure and many other physical conditions will improve in this altered state. 

"Altered state?"  This brings up another feeling I have come to know.  I often feel a natural high when in nature.  When I am pushing my body to its physical limits by climbing a series of tough hills it is baffling how I can smile and laugh at the end of the day.  It isn't simply from the sense of accomplishment but the awe and physiological reactions to the physical activity. 

In the fall, for me at least, these sensations are elevated.  I think this is mainly due to the colors and the rapid tempo at which the season of those colors moves on.  If you're looking for a way to slow time, fall, and your mind down, you should consider attending one of the many fall events in our region.  Sussex Corner is hosting a new Fall Harvest Day on October 20^th and they anticipate a great celebration of local talents and food.  With the Bluff as the back drop at Sullivan Park the good time should move last a long time.