Princeton University - East Pyne Building, detail of turret

We went on a visit to Princeton University yesterday because my son is applying to colleges, and as he had the day off due to parent-teacher conferences, he decided he would like to visit Princeton. We arranged to meet my niece for lunch at the Center for Jewish Life. Having had a late-for-the-conference experience due to parking issues a few weeks ago, I now consider myself a Princeton parking expert, and we drove straight to Palmer Square Garage on Chambers Street. In the dripping wet we figured out where Clio Hall is, the place where the tour begins. The photos on top and bottom were taken in the sunny summer month of August – it did not look that bright in New Jersey yesterday, lots of rain. We did the tour (one other mother-son team joined us), and then we had the pleasure of my niece’s company at a kosher lunch at CJL. She seems to be enjoying Princeton, and I was pleased to hear she is taking French as one of her courses. She is the sister of the blogger in Norway.

So, now that I’ve left you with some of the details of my day, here’s some questions for you:

• If you’ve had a child leave home, how did it feel to have the first one leave?
• If you could apply to college now (all expenses paid), where would you go and what would you study?
• Have you been to Princeton?

Princeton University Chapel tower

We decided in advance to follow the red trail – it wasn’t always easy to see these markings for the trail on the trees.

I saw a variety of plants growing – no idea what this striped little plant is called.

I recognized these red oval berries from my childhood – I looked up the bush (red berries with thorns is what I looked for in Google Images), and I learned this is called a barberry bush.

I rather liked this plant inside moss that I found on the trail.

There were various streams on our hike that led into the reservoir. The girls (my daughter and friend) had fun hopping over the rocks.

When we got to the top of the hill on the trail, we were rewarded with views of hawks flying overhead.

You could see quite a distance from the top – the fall colors have faded, but they are still varied, though muted.

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Our first stop was Von Thun Farm in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey; however, they did not feature apple picking until the next Sunday. So we proceeded unto Lee Turkey Farm, which also has a corn maze and pick your own corn. My daughter and her friends enjoyed watching the chickens for a while.

No real reds in this photo, but I loved the rushed look of my daughter running through the corn maze at Lee Turkey Farm.

For more Ruby Tuesday posts:

This droopy pale orange flower added a wispy look to the scene.

These green, round leaves were growing in the stream, but I didn’t see any lilies.

This white flower seems to be a kind of honeysuckle.

Would this little daisy-like flower be a fairy aster?

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The section with the American paintings was more appealing to them.

The life-size portrait of Elizabeth Allen Marquand, 1887 by John Singer Sargent is more captivating in real life. I would probably sit for hours and draw her, if I had the chance.

After a few minutes of doing the scavenger hunt, my daughter and her friend decided to use the backs of the hunt papers to draw a distinguished family from the 18th century, The Hartley Family with lovely silk dresses.

There’s sculpture and architecture to be seen outside the museum, on the Princeton campus, but I’ll save the architecture for another post. The statue is of John Witherspoon, 6th president of Princeton and a signatory of the Declaration of Independence.

For more Summer Stock Sunday, visit:

Batya will be hosting a JPiX carnival this coming August 4 – if you have any posts with photos relevant to a Jewish Photo Bloggers’ Carnival, please submit them to http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_987.html.

Pershing Square bridge by Grand Central Station, New York City

The bridge is my entry for Sunday Bridges:

Sculpture on top of Grand Central Station, New York City

The sculpture is my entry for Straight Out of the Camera:

Flag over the beach next to the boardwalk in Asbury Park, NJ

For more Summer Stock Sunday:

Mime performing on the boardwalk in Asbury Park, New Jersey

On My Blog

The BIG GIGANTIC news today in our household is that the RPRY team of middle son (5 of them) won the Torah Bowl Championship. They previously won the New Jersey division, and today they beat New York schools SAR and HALB. Torah Bowl is sort of like Jeopardy – they get asked questions about certain parts of the Torah, and they have to answer quickly.

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• I got a kick out of this video of the preparation of a health salad. But he never does explain why he doesn’t think you should wash vegetables if you grow them in your own garden.
• Ilana-Davita conducted an interview with Rabbi Josh Yuter.
• Rayna Eliana reviewed City of Dreams, a historical novel that takes place in Amsterdam.
• I enjoyed chatting with Mrs. S. last week about Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. If you haven’t watched it, I recommend it. It’s historical.
• Sparrow Chatter has some exquisite shots of a florist’s window.
• Batya talks about problems with the new trains in Jerusalem and a certain politician who created many of the problems.
• Robin is starting Summer Stock Sunday 2011 – and these mime photos are my first entry.

Here’s my daughter and the mime – he had motioned toward her so she could get her picture taken with him. He did that to anyone who put money in his bucket.

I posted these mime photos as part of Straight Out Of the Camera -I have a bit of time online on Saturday night. On Sunday, I’ll be marching down 5th Avenue in New York City with my kids’ school.

One lone gull (is he a gull? See this list of sea birds) flies away from his friends. This one appears brown.

A brown gull flies by the active waves. Crafty Green Poet writes: “the brown bird is probably a young gull, most species of gull have I think three years in brown plumage (slightly different each of the years) before they take on adult plumage” – thank you!

A few brave souls sit on the rocks at the beach. My kids both went dunking into the freezing May waters. I just put in my toe. My husband relaxed on the beach – too cold for him.

This photo should give you an idea of how crowded it was on the beach. And economically, this is good news. Asbury Park was very depressed in the past thirty years. My husband grew up in this area, and he saw the decline. About one hundred years ago, it was quite a fashionable place. People may no longer walk in fancy dresses and suits, but the new restaurants and shops are upscale. I hope the gulls don’t mind.

Pictured in the crowded beach photo are the Asbury Park Theatre (see it in my Asbury post from last year) and the Berkeley Carteret Hotel.

For more Nature Notes, visit Rambling Woods: