In response to the recent assault that took place on Kingston's berm path, the South Brunswick police department is leading two safety sessions for the community, so that we can safely enjoy our beautiful surroundings. Please join your Kingston neighbors on either October 27 or November 14 at the Kingston Firehouse.
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Thank you to Friends of Princeton Nursery Lands for informing us of these events.
The cicadas will only live a few weeks above ground, during which time they molt, mate, and die, but only after males have wooed females with ear-splitting calls, and the females have laid their eggs under the bark of tree twigs, starting the 17-year cycle anew.
Dr. Hamilton is Chair of the Department of Entomology and Director of the Rutgers Graduate Program in Entomology. His research has included evaluating alternative methods of controlling insect pests, including the Asian Tiger Mosquito, and understanding the pest potential of brown marmorated stink bugs.
Please pre-register and receive the link to attend this talk by contacting karenlinder@fpnl.org or by calling 609-683-0483. The talk is free and all are welcome.
It's an earth song,—
And I've been waiting long for an earth song.
It's a spring song,—
And I've been waiting long for a spring song.
Strong as the shoots of a new plant
Strong as the bursting of new buds
Strong as the coming of the first child from its mother's
womb.
It's an earth song,
A body song,
I have been waiting long for this spring song.
The meeting will take place online. If you plan on attending, please RSVP to karenlinder@fpnl.org or call 609-683-0483 to obtain the link.
Join Friends of Princeton Nursery Lands and Scout Troops 10 and 102 to clean up trails and clear brush and vines from trees surrounding a vernal pond in the Mapleton Preserve. This event is scheduled for Saturday, April 10, 2021, from 1 to 3 pm; the rain date is Sunday, April 11, from 1 to 3 pm. Tools and gloves will be provided, or you can bring your own; rakes would be particularly helpful. Dress for the weather, whatever it may be.
For the safety of all, masks and social distancing will be required. Preregistration is requested at karenlinder@fpnl.org or 609-683-0483.
Mapleton Preserve/D&R Canal State Park is located at 145 Mapleton Road in Kingston. Click here for directions.
Happy New Year, Princeton Landing friends, former neighbors, and residents.
Your board of directors may have faith in your management company, but we wonder how this is possible. Although we sold our home in the community in November, FirstService Residential is still sending us monthly maintenance bills. We have also received a collection notice for an erroneous December maintenance bill. The same day the January maintenance bill and the December collection notice arrived, we also received our former Parcel's finalized 2021 budget "prepared by the Association Board of Directors," telling us about the increase in monthly maintenance fees in Parcel 6. The maintenance bills and collection notice were sent to our new address. The Parcel budget was sent to our old address and forwarded.
Back in December when we received the first erroneous maintenance bill, my husband emailed the management office. He did not get a response. So I inquired to management on a copy of his email. Only then did they reply to him. They told him that it was "normal" to continue to receive maintenance bills even after you have sold your home in the community. It's "normal" then, it seems, to also receive a collection notice on a maintenance bill you didn't owe in the first place.
Princeton Landing homeowners, THIS IS YOUR MANAGEMENT COMPANY. They are no longer our problem, but they are yours. We wish you all the best in the new year and sincerely hope that errors like these are not indicative of other ways in which your community may be mismanaged.
Be well. Take care. Stay safe.
Illustration: "Gathering Chestnuts," by J.W. Lauderbach, from The Art Journal of 1878
Rachel Mackow is an owner of Wild Ridge Plants, which is dedicated to the restoration of native plant communities that sustain and engage both people and wildlife. She manages the nursery operation on the farm at Wild Ridge and creates stewardship plans based on her knowledge of restoration practices and invasive species management. She enjoys helping people reconnect to plants and self-reliance through teaching foraging skills, herbal practice, and traditional plant uses.
Formed in 1998, Kingston Greenways Association aims to establish a permanent greenbelt around the village of Kingston consisting of natural environments, recreational parkland, agricultural and horticultural land, wetlands, streams and ponds, and sites of historical interest. The Association further aims to preserve and create connections of green among these for walking, jogging, bicycling and horseback riding. It also hopes to promote understanding of our local region through study and education, and to provide oversight and advocacy for open space in the Kingston area.
Photo: Rachel Mackow
"Icons," by Bob Staake, next week's cover of The New Yorker.
"Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court, died on Friday, at the age of eighty-seven. Ginsburg spent nearly three decades on the country's highest bench, and five decades as a tireless scholar, teacher, and advocate of equality. To commemorate her, the artist Bob Staake said, he 'needed to think of a graphic metaphor that embodied Ginsburg's life and legacy.' He wanted something that was 'honest and no-nonsense,' like Ginsburg, and he landed on her lace collar, a symbol not just of Ginsburg but, in Staake's drawing, of women everywhere."
1933 – 2020
"My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."
