The weather was perfect this weekend for a three-day reset after picking up my last paycheck from my third job. New to this “only five-days- and one-night-a-week” work schedule after almost two years of hustling, I needed something to shake up my routine to prepare for a new one.
Urban Wander
After a Saturday cookout that went late, we slept in on Sunday and in the late afternoon, headed over to Jersey City Heights. There’s a chic new ice cream shop, Milk Sugar Love, that was a perfect starting point for one of the first almost-hot days of the early summer. I was skeptical about the Lemon Olive Oil flavor, but it was shockingly delicious and extra creamy!
We sat in a small park with a broad vista of the skylines of both New York City and the so-called “sixth borough” of Jersey City, with the old-fashioned peaked roof of the historic Hoboken train and ferry terminal in between. Immediately at our feet, a small garden bloomed with yellow and purple iris and the lavender globes of wild clover. Our friend explained that the park edge had been destroyed by Superstorm Sandy and replanted with a rain garden (bioswale) of more resilient varieties meant to better withstand the next hurricane. I noticed that they were bee- and butterfly-friendly local pollinators, too.
Suburban Wander
On Monday, we headed out to Morristown, NJ, to pick up a friend and her dog, and then down to Morris Lewis State Park to hike the Yellow Trail loop. It was a nice trail, not as flat as last time, a little bit more of a workout, but super easy to follow. The only time we got lost was when we tried to cut a corner to get to lunch faster….
There weren’t as many flowers on this walk, the trail more shaded than last week’s, but I got a few good flower shots, plus one expertly camouflaged toad … so much so that the dog ran her nose right over the guy several times and couldn’t find him!
Conversant 