Anniversary of 9/11.

9-11-26 SHORT HILLS: It’s a day much like the day 25 years ago when the towers fell after the attack. I remember the day well, watching it on TV, talking to friends and family, awed by the horror. Family from other parts of the country were worried about any of us being there. We had children in NYC at the time in lower Manhattan, who got dusted by the cloud of debris. 

I remember thinking the the first hit was probably an accident, but the second hit revealed the truth of the attack. I had no idea how bad the attack was until the towers fell, one and later the other. In WWII a plane crashed into the Empire State Building, an accident that did damage, but the building stood so I thought the towers would stand.

Judy worked at the NJ center for the victims families at Liberty State Park with Fanny, one of our therapy dogs. She was there many times to aid and comfort the workers and families of the victims. Liberty State Park is directly across the Hudson from Ground Zero.

Judy writes about it—

"Fanny and I were privileged to join a cadre of therapy dogs teams working after the World Trade Center attack at the NJ 9/11 Family Assistance Center at the massive, cavernous Victorian railway station at Liberty State Park. The station overlooks lower Manhattan, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty and had been the way west for many immigrants. Driving to the park, we went down a long allee that was lined with hundreds of police and who were all were thrilled to see the dogs.

"At the center itself, each family was paired with a professional grief councilor who escorted them for their entire stay. These counselors came from prosecutors offices from all over the US and its territories, as were so many of the professionals working at the center. Families were given emotional support by chaplains of all faiths and practical aid with financial issues, and psychiatric    support.

 

"A church group from Ohio provided round the clock day care and the Salvation Army, continuous food. There were pink and blue teddy bears for the children and for the spouses and parents of the fallen. Generic ashes            taken from the site were distributed by the clergy.

"These services were co-ordinated by the state of NJ which did an amazing task of providing a myriad of services, which included the beginning of identifying remains. A giant kiosk outside of the station was plastered with    hundreds of photos of the missing. For those families who wished to go to the    site itself, ferries were provided non-stop by NY Waterways and Imperatore    Ferries. Embarking and returning families were greeted by bagpipers.

"NJ families who went to Manhattan were greeted by therapy dogs from the NY Family Assistance Center. Also riding the route back and forth were the tireless workers from the site. One of those most deeply impacted was the        Liberty State guard who was on duty and watched the towers as they fell. 

"Fanny and I met many people from all walks of life, a Somalian guard, an Ecuadorian family who were here on the victim’s work visa, a dishwasher at Windows in the World, that included a pregnant wife, and her toddler and        his parents. His mom’s name was Fanny and she sat for a half an hour            stroking my Fanny and repeating the name endlessly.

"These folks and many more were going to be deported. They were here  because the loved one who died had a work visa which was now gone. While      the dogs were a huge comfort to families, they were equally embraced by          the professionals who were, frankly, doing their jobs while trying to digest all             they were seeing and encountering, as were we all. 

"It was an intensely patriotic environment. The entire country came          together in one place out of deep sorrow, to try to be of comfort to any and all.

                                       Fanny the therapy dog.

 

Back in NJ.

9-4-26 SHORT HILLS: We got back here Tuesday afternoon. When I got out of the car, I was blasted by the heat and humidity, mid-eighties with wet air. Summer is not over here, and it’s not pleasant.

It’s been a very wet summer, the ground is soggy and spongy. Most of the trees seem to have loved it, but a few are looking stressed. The Norway maple hybrid, Crimson King, which are street trees on our block, have lost lots of foliage on the top sections. Our linden tree is also thinly foliated. The diseased ash trees look great. Some things love the wet conditions, but others not.

Speaking of wet, on the last three nights we have had T-storms giving us 0.75, 0.25 and 0.15 inches, and another storm is showing up on radar for tonight.

Judy and I have both been out in the yard weeding and pruning. It’s hard work in the heat, but we’re getting a handle on it. Today it’s 86º and 60% humidity, we’re hiding inside in the AC.

I filled the bird feeders when I got back here and the first customers were the grackles, but all the regulars soon showed up.

In bloom: white snake root, rose of Sharon, crape myrtle, wild strawberry, hydrangea, abelia. 

Rose of Sharon also comes in lavender, it's a relative of hibiscus.

White snake root is really a weed, but under control could be an OK flower.

Crape myrtle is a reliable end of the season bloomer.

The 'Crimson King' has lost a lot of foliage, but the surrounding trees--dawn redwood, sweet gum, southern magnolia, elm, viburnum are all doing very well.

Emmett Leaves Vermont.

8-31-26 VERMONT: Back to NJ tomorrow. We’ve been packing and clearing out the frig, clearing the deck, closing and locking the doors, saying good-bye to the horses, birds and butterflies. The painter are due to arrive today to start the job as is the roofer to repair a damaged panel. Scott will repair the storm doors.

Emmett and parents left yesterday. Emmett said that he didn't want to leave. I feel the same way. We had dinner with Shari and Dave at their house yesterday and will eat with Cousin John in town tonight.

I always hate the end of summer, even though fall has a lot to offer. We will be back for leaf season in October and after that for Xmas. But then comes the long slog of winter, cold and darkness. I used to be OK with winter because of skiing, but I haven’t done that in a long time.

New blooms: bottle gentian.

We went to Barnard to hear neighbor Steve and his band, Blind Squirrel, play for a street dance, also a chance to get a maple creamee.

One could sit in a firetruck at Barnard.

Neighbor Gail brought us a monarch crystalis that hatched as we watched and hung around.

Emmett at the Fair.

8-27-26 VERMONT: The plan is for us to be back in NJ in less than a week, summer is almost over. We are still racking up memories for us and Emmett. We were at the Cornish Fair last weekend, and saw sheep, cows, chickens, pigs, some of us rode on the merry-go-round and on a car ride. Some of us had a bloomin’ onion and pulled pork. We saw a juggler, who

juggled knives, and balanced a step ladder on his chin. We drove across the historic Windsor-Cornish wooden, covered bridge to get there and back. 

Cedar Circle Farm Camp this week had all the camper/caterpillars sit on their favorite vegetables and then enter a chrysalis, where they metamorphosed into butterflies with wings.

Here we had the water line to the barn re-located in order to be able to shut off the water to the house, but not to the barn. The painters start on Monday doing the outside of the houses.

A doe visited yesterday during the day to eat apples, a few dozen, off the ground and picked off the trees. She was here for almost an hour. The great blue heron was here several times this week, and a kingfisher also stopped by.

We had a nice rain this week, delivering 0.75 inches, and maybe more today.

New blooms: pink turtlehead, red lobelia, poppy [re-bloom]. 

Every body likes apples.

Doe, apples, phlox, cattails.

Cornish Fair with Anna and Emmett.

Emmett and Dad on the carousel.

Driving lesson.

Cow grooming before the judging.

The Windsor-Cornish bridge spans the Connecticut River. It was built in 1866.

Two lane, timber construction bridge.

Emmett and me making Guacamole, a fav of his and mine.

Caterpillars occupying veggies.

Caterpillars in a chrysalis.

Caterpillars have metamorphosed to butterflies.

Poppy that I planted mid-season, after they usually bloom, surprised us by blooming now. The bee took it in stride.

Pink turtlehead blooms much later than the white ones.

Emmett in Wonderland.

8-20-26 VERMONT: It’s still beautiful, but the days are getting shorter, the nights are cooler, and the garden is getting unruly. We had a half inch of rain, delivered in two aliquots, we need more, of course, but fall will deliver it. 

The Oil Boys were here to install the new furnace in the old house basement. The painters arrive next Monday to start painting the exteriors the houses. I have taken almost all the screens out for the painting. 

Emmett continues to discover Vermont. He’s been to another farm camp, bird lesson from VINS, pasture walks, apple feedings for the horses, tractor tryouts, seeing a garter snake and a green frog yesterday, a robin’s nest, and the discovery of huge caterpillars on one of the tomato plants. It turns out that it’s a Tobacco Hornworm rather than a Tomato Hornworm based on its having a red horn.

New blooms: more asters.

Blue Lobelia, also comes in red and white.

Hummingbird at the feeder.

Tobacco Hornworm with red tail horn.

I want my own tractor.

Small garter snake.

Emmett and Howie after a walk in the pasture.

Robin Egg in Nest.

Eastern Phoebe, immature, in the big pine.

Ice cream after Thai dinner in town.

The Further Adventures of Emmett.

8-14-26 VERMONT: It’s cooler in the seventies, and tonight might get down to the 40’s. We were in a series of cookie-cutter days, all beautiful. We have had the plumber here to fix a leak in the washing machine faucet and to estimate the cost of changing the water line to the barn. Screen doors replacement estimator was also here.  

I planted a clematis [C. Rebecca Evipo016] under the deck by the lattice. The clematis that had been happy there for many years didn’t survive the installation of the heat pumps. Also I planted a cardinal flower [Lobelia cardinalis] on the edge of the pond by the hollyhock and echinacea. 

New blooms: ligularia dentata, sedum.

Ligularia dentata.

Sedum looking vivid.

Walking in the pasture, Emmett and the greatgrans.

Emmett and an orange tractor.

Emmett and the alpacas.

Emmett painting the bear.

Weathervane with bird.

Emmett Is Here.

8-11-26 VERMONT: The flatlanders are here. Anna, Gardner, Yaya and Emmett are here for a few weeks. Lily and Danna were here for a long weekend. There were adventures here at the house and at the Latham Library, at Cedar Circle Farm. Dinners were at Red Can and Elixir. The boat got some use, frogs were briefly caught, horses were fed, tractors were admired thanks to Andy and Steve. Aged greatgrands are struggling to keep up the pace.

Judy got a wooden saffron jar at auction. The windows were washed. We had 0.2 inches of rain. The storm last night came with lightning.

New blooms: monkshood, sedum, big-leaf aster, black-eyed susan, blue lobelia, white star clematis. 

 

Emmett helping me water the transplants.

Captain Lily with crew of Danna and Yaya hunting the wily amphibians.

Emmett checking out the saffron box.

Emmett and Blanca.