Labor Day Musings

Jogging on Long Beach Island, NJ in Late September.

One of the characteristics that I like about Labor Day in Bridgewater and, I suspect in other Central Jersey towns, is that for those of us who have not gone away for the weekend, it’s pleasantly quiet – a welcome break from the hustle and bustle that will begin anew in a few days.

The lazy, hazy, crazy days of a Nat King Cole summer song have been good this year, especially for Jersey Shore communities and their tourists who sought well-deserved pleasure in the waves of the Atlantic, the beckoning aromas of boardwalk food emporiums, and the warmth of sunshine captured by golden sands stretching over one hundred miles along coastal beaches and barrier islands of the Garden State.

As for the Bergerons of Bridgewater and a few of our neighbors, we stuck around and enjoyed the serenity of a Bridgewater landscape unusually devoid of the accelerated activities and sounds of a fully populated township.

Fall is just around the corner, and the great heat of this summer, blessed though it’s been, has not allowed me to do as much outdoor gardening as was needed – one does not fight with Mother Nature. 

 

Taking full advantage of yesterday morning’s cooler and drier temperatures, I completed pruning chores in the larger of the two front gardens – less to do later on.

Often, there is surprise associated with that type of plain work – assuming one is not adverse to a little effort and sweat. 

 

Narrowly escaping from the hedge trimmer.

Yesterday was no exception:  After I had finished cutting down to size a butterfly bush, I noticed a large cricket (at least that’s what I assumed it to be!) clinging to the top of a cutting.

That bug had escaped the noisy blades of the hedge trimmer – such were the survival instincts of that two-inch-long creature.  It must have ensconced itself within the inner bottom of the bush as I was methodically trimming around it and chopping off a couple of feet from the top.

Thanks for checking in again.  Good luck to all of you and, in particular, to all of Bridgewater’s scholars who return to their studies this week while parents segue into an adjusted pattern of work and homemaking.

Sometimes, I think the latter occupation can be far more assiduous than the former. 

p.s. If you like Nat King Cole, the YouTube link above will continue streaming a medley of his tunes.