Sunday, March 23, 2008

Austin's Birthday




September 26 is Austin's birthday.


27 years ago I was blessed with a 8 lb.14 oz. beautiful, perfect baby boy.


On his birthday, I drove to Long Beach Island, NJ and left Austin a birthday card on the rocky beach.  I didn't stay long, it was windy and cold and as desolate as I felt.

  
Along the sand dunes, on the fence, there were balloons attached.... As if a party was waiting for Austin on this isolated beach.


Austin's birthday present is ten trees planted in Gallantin National Forest, near Yellowstone National Park. 

 
Happy Birthday, Austin.  I love you.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

New Jersey


I have returned to New Jersey, an overpopulated state of negative energy and bad memories.   

Why do I dislike NJ… beside the obvious reasons?

I have lived here for 9 years, yet I don’t consider this home.  I have no sense of belonging to a community feeling here.

It is the only place where people have been less than nice to me.

It is so crowded that you don’t really know when you left one town and entered another.

People snarl, “Have a good one.”  (What does a “good one” mean?

You can’t make left turns, where you really need to make a left turn!

I like religious diversity, but when did Santa Claus become a religion and why are agnostics practicing it?

The “ghetto” way of putting the accent on the last syllable of words ending in on, en or an is really getting on my nerves.  Trent-IN, Camd-IN, Man-hat-IN

I miss clear, starry nights.

The crime, homicides and availability/use of drugs and alcohol are unbelievably high.

People think that they are “safe” because the homicides are “mostly in Camden and parts of Philadelphia”.  Less than 20 miles away!  Wake up!  We are living on the outskirts of the worst areas in the US, for God’s sake!

People tend to have opinionated, closed-minded attitudes.

Women have loud, abrasive voices.

Okay……the above listed are somewhat petty annoyances, but I gotta get out of NJ.  For real.

I truly dislike NJ.  My son died here.  People were mean to him.  People that really should have been nice and supportive like FAMILY but they were greedy and selfish. Typical New Jersey.

I can't live here much longer......