Impressions of New Jersey

Well, we are on the move again. Well, not exactly on the move....it's done.....we have moved.....again.

I have people asking me over and over again....aren't you sick of it? You have done so many major moves in such a short time!

In short, yes, I am sick of it. I am TIRED. Having said that, I am of the opinion that we all have choices in life, and I choose to look at the positive side. Each and every move is an opportunity to travel and explore. It is an opportunity to experience new things and meet new people. It is an opportunity to make new friends and to teach my children that a house is just a house, but that a home is wherever we are together as a family. I feel comfortable with the fact that my children will grow up to be flexible, adaptable, resilient people because they will have such rich experiences to draw upon. But, I am still TIRED.

So, now that that is out of the way....what do I think of New Jersey?

Well, northern New Jersey is very rich in wildlife, despite being only one hour and ten minutes from NYC. We have black bears in our yard (yes, you did read that correctly). That was something that they happened to leave off the glamour sheet when we were looking at the house. We have a groundhog/woodchuck (yes, they are the same thing) that lives in our yard. I didn't even know what the heck he was.....Rebekah figured it out and then I googled it to find a photo in order to confirm. She was correct. There are deer (we are used to them from living in Ohio where we had them in the yard eating my Hostas on a regular basis) along with lots of field mice (who happened to be camped out IN the house when we took possession!) and carpenter ants. We have already had to contract the services of a pest company and quickly signed up for their seasonal plan when we realized what we were up against. The straw that broke the camel's back were the cave crickets. Once they move in, I was ready to move out. Oiy! Thankfully, the pest people did their jobs, and they are all but gone. What a relief!

Aside from the wildlife situation, another observation is that driving here is crazy! New Jersey has a lot of jughandles....oh, you mean you don't know what they are? Well, neither did I until a few weeks ago! And if you happen to click on the link above and read about jughandles on Wikipedia....I disagree with the statement that jughandles are used prevalently in Massachusetts and Ohio (among other states) because I have lived in both of those states and not encountered a jughandle until New Jersey!

Jughandles aren't the only issue....there are also a lot of divided highways. The divided highways along with the jughandles make driving an adventure. Picture this....you are driving down the road and you need to make a left turn. You get into the left lane in anticipation of the aforementioned turn. You are about 50 feet from the intersection when you realize that this is not an intersection with a left turn lane, but instead it is an intersection with a jughandle, which means that you need to be in the right hand lane in order to make a left turn. Oooops, too late! By this time you are through the intersection, but the highway is divided and you now have to drive five miles out of your way before you have the opportunity to turn around and loop back. The best part is that when you are on your way back, you are driving on the other side of the road, so you still don't know if you need to be in the left lane or the right lane in order to execute your turn.

Welcome to New Jersey!